


Up Where they Walk

by Valethra



Series: Free! Mermaid AU [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: Former Mermen, Homophobia, IT RETURNS, If you read the first one you should have an idea of what you're in for, Internalized Biphobia, M/M, Past Rape/Non-con, Precious Cinnamon Roll Makoto, Sequel, Tsundere Sousuke, Why can't I figure out how to tag this, vague smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2018-12-07 07:53:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 31,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11619228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valethra/pseuds/Valethra
Summary: Nearly a year after Haru joined Rin on land, Makoto shows up, also a human. He's been on land for a little while, learning how to survive and getting himself a job. Sousuke is relieved to finally get to meet his rescuer properly, but before long he worries that he likes the other man a bit too much. Can he step away from his devotion to Rin and Haru and learn to do what makes him happy? And why won't Makoto talk about how he ended up on land?





	1. Newcomer

_You aren't sure what instinct drove you to this place, but you're here now, and there's no undoing that.  
_

_You have never seen a human being before, not even from a distance. You have never touched a human artifact. You have never breached— your head has never left the safety of water. Maybe that's why you're here. Over twenty years of unfulfilled curiosity have finally driven you to disobey._

_Maybe it's what your father said earlier. He was telling your younger siblings about the evils of the human world. You tried to argue that it isn't right to hate those you've never met, and he laughed at you. He dared you to take a look at their world._

_"They drive in machines of metal that spit black smoke into the air," he said. "They throw waste into our waters that kills us and the fish. They take more fish than what they need to survive. They capture dolphins and whales to display them in little tanks and force them to perform tricks for their amusement, and they cut the fins from sharks for a simple bowl of soup. You mean to tell me that they are not destructive? Go and see it for yourself. When you return, you will apologize to me for your ignorance."_

_He dared you to go, but you're certain that he'd punish you if he knew you were here. He's a hypocrite in that way. He's a hypocrite whenever and however he can be, but that isn't important right now._

_You take a deep breath to steel yourself. You've decided to do it in one quick motion. You shut your eyes and force yourself up with all of your strength, and before long you feel a solid dry against your skin that prompts you to take another gasp. This time, your lungs fill with air. It's an unfamiliar sensation, but not painful._

_You stay frozen with fear for a long minute. You lift your eyelids slowly, and the first thing you see is a cliff. There, at the edge, is a short metal fence, and beyond that a patch of grass. The grass ends at a thin strip of grey. Haruka told you that that's called a "road"._

_You look around. The sky is dark, the kind of blue-grey tinged with purple that it is just before dawn. Perhaps you should have come during the day, when you could see more. You know, deep down, that you didn't do so because you were afraid to get too close to a human._

_Your heart does not want to hate, but that doesn't prevent the fear._

_Just then, you see it: one of the driving machines. It's loud. You know that a person has to sit in it to make it move. The front of the machine casts a dull yellow light that illuminates the road. It hums quickly forward. They don't notice you. And why would they? They're so high up, and likely not looking down at the water._

_The machine passes. It's too dark to see whether or not it does, in fact, spit smoke. You sigh as your head retreats beneath the water._

_You feel very silly. What were you hoping to prove by coming out here? You're too afraid to get close enough to get any answers. Maybe you should just ask Haruka. Maybe your father is right. You feel your shoulders lower as you resign yourself to returning to the castle._

_Suddenly, you hear something loud and whining. It's a series of high-pitched and unnatural screeches like nothing you've ever heard. You stop, turning back to face the cliff, and poke your head up above the water, just enough that your eyes can see the road._

_You see several of those driving machines, and they're approaching much faster than the other one did. One of them is emitting a series of notes, and has lights flashing at the top, a repeating pattern of red and blue. The others are surrounding it. There's a person in there, right? Don't they realize that they could hurt them if—_

_One more second, and you realize that that's exactly what they intended. With the deafening sound of metal on metal, one of the cars rams into the side of the flashing one and sends it through the fence._

_You cry out helplessly. The machine rolls down the rocky hill, each impact so **loud** , a chorus of metal and shattering glass. There's a pop, and the inside of the machine is filled with bubbles of white. You think you hear someone shouting. A man._

_You don't know what to do, so you hide behind a rock. The machine plummets into the water. You hear sounds, a repeated clicking and thumping. That's when it dawns on you:_

_There's still a person, a human, inside. And he cannot get out._

_You feel a wave of terror and panic. Can you watch him die? You're not allowed to touch him. You're not supposed to. But what happens if you don't? Humans can't breathe underwater, right? Haruka said he heard that they can't hold their breath any longer than three or four minutes._

_The thumping stops, and you hear a horrible sound. It's surely the sound of a person choking on water. You peek out from behind the rock. You can see him perched inside of his driving machine, and there's red on his face and the side of his head. Blood. His eyes have closed, and he is still._

_You don't have time to worry about your father or the rules. If you don't act now, he'll drown, and you can't let that happen. You rush to the side of the machine, and you remember those old texts you read, the ones you weren't supposed to read, that talked about restoring air to humans who were submerged for too long._

_The door of the machine will not open. The glass part was shattered, but this human is too large to be pulled through its crooked frame. You didn't know humans could get so big, as you were told they are small and weak. With no other choice, you fix your hands to the inside of the metal door and pull. You pull as hard as you can, feeling a surge of energy, and the whole thing pries off._

_He begins to slump as soon as you've gotten the door out the way. He's tied down by frustrating straps that you're forced to tear through. You're able to pull him into your arms, and he's so heavy. His body is a dead weight. You force your own body up once more, until you've breached with him in your arms._

_You find a large, flat rock and lay him out upon it. He's soaked, and he's cold. He isn't making a sound. You don't care about being spotted right now— you shift him so that there's enough room for the both of you and pull yourself up to sit beside him. You gently slap at his face and his chest, trying to see if he's awake, before you remember how to check his pulse._

_You press your fingers to his wrist. There's a pulse there, but it's faint. He isn't breathing, for the most part. Every once in a while he makes a sound like a shallow gasp, and then he falls silent again. You close your eyes, trying to stay calm and remember how you can help him._

_There's a technique. It requires precise compressions on the center of the chest, and creating a seal to breathe air into the human's mouth. You gulp as you realize what that will require you to do, and you take the human's face and hold it still as you lean in towards him. It's not a kiss. Of course it isn't a kiss— it's a purely medical process, a targeted breath._

_Still, you can't help but wonder if this is the closest you'll ever get to being allowed to kiss another boy._

_You're able to dismiss the thought more easily than you would have expected, because it becomes clear rather quickly that it really isn't a kiss. There's a clinical nature to it that removes any of the other implications. Make a seal. Start with five breaths. You have to focus. You have to make sure you're doing this correctly._

_If you don't, you will have to watch someone die._

_You're not capable of doing that. It would destroy you. You've always been too soft. You hear your father in the back of your head, yelling at you to grow some spine, and for a moment you lose track of what you're doing. Then you remember, and you put your hands on the human's chest._

_Where is the human heart? It should be at about the same place, right? You can feel it pumping through his skin. It's very faint, but it's there. His body is fighting. You wonder what he's fighting so hard for._

_You figure out the location of the lungs and the heart and use that to determine where his center is, and you press your hands there. You have to undo some of his buttons first (that's what they're called, right?), which feels like some kind of violation, but you're sure he'd understand if you explained that it was to save his life._

_It's not difficult to develop a rythm. You have to press hard, but not too hard, as you don't want to damage his ribs. You have to keep the pressure firm and steady. Every thirty compressions or so, you stop to administer another couple of breaths. It's strictly medical now. You lose track of time, focusing only on the rhythm of your movements._

_Finally, he coughs, hacking up water as he does. He gasps for air, a desperate and unpleasant sound, and then stops. His eyes are still closed, and he isn't moving, but he's breathing. He's **breathing**._

_It seems that he's sleeping, perhaps allowing his body to recover from the trauma it suffered. You decide that there's no harm in watching over him until he wakes. You've done this much already. It seems that he will live to see another day. You finally allow yourself to breathe normally, to relax._

_It suddenly occurs to you that you've touched a human. Stranger still, this fact isn't scary to you. **He** isn't scary. You wish you knew what his name was, if only so that you could stop thinking of him as "the human man". You look around and see that there are no other machines, not yet. For now, you're alone. You take this moment to cup his face and study it closely._

_He really isn't scary._

_He's big, and he's burly, but he doesn't strike you as a mean sort, even if his brow is heavy and low-set. His skin is darker than yours by at least a couple of shades, and his hair is a brown that verges on black. You wonder what color his eyes are. You coo at him, singing under your breath in your ancient tongue in some effort to soothe him in his sleep, as you carefully wipe the blood from his face and brush away the stray hairs. You take this moment to re-button his shirt, also, just to be polite. You were told that humans are far less casual about nudity than merfolk._

_Once you have him cleaned up, you smile, feeling a little flutter in your chest that you're normally forced to ignore. He's handsome, this one. You don't know how humans measure these things, but you're still sure of that somehow. You're sure that everyone thinks he's handsome._

_He stirs in his sleep, and it occurs to you that you have no more excuse to be on this rock. You don't want to be spotted, and the last thing you want to do is alarm him. So you return to the water, propping your elbows on the edge of the rock to watch him. The sun is rising over the edge of the sea, its first rays spreading across its surface. You will wait here as long as you have to. Shouldn't he have woken by now? You fear that you did something incorrectly, that he's suffered irreversible brain damage._

_This fear is quickly shattered. Just as the sun leaves the surface of the water, he groans and pulls his heavy arm to his own head, hissing through his teeth. You perk up. He's awake! He's moving! He sits up and turns to you, looking dazed, and you explain as best you can where he is and what happened to him. Your explanation is clearly insufficient, and he looks at you suspiciously._

_You don't get to speak with him for very long. Other cars like his (he muttered something about "where the car went" as he was waking, so you figure that's what those machines are called), the ones with the strange lights, come for him. You don't stick around and wait for him to thank you— you know that he must be grateful._

_You do get to see, before you leave, that his eyes are teal, like warm tropical waters._

 

* * *

 

"Come here and sit down already, they're about to announce the ruling!"

Rin shouted impatiently from the couch, and Sousuke groaned under his breath as he hurriedly picked up the six-pack of beer and shuffled to the couch with it. Two people already took up the center cushions, leaving only the edges for Sousuke. He squeezed as close to the arm of the sofa as he could. The two of them needed their space right now. Rin leaned forward so far that he nearly fell off of the couch. His boyfriend's arm linked with his was really the only thing keeping him balanced.

It was a big day. Australia's Supreme Court was currently deliberating over the nation's future in terms of marriage equality. In only moments, they would announce a decision that could potentially change the lives of everyone in the apartment.

Sousuke was unsure of how he should feel.

 _Of course_ he wanted Rin to have the right to get married. Everyone deserved that much. But he wasn't sure he was ready to face that reality— that things couldn't stay this way forever, that they were eventually supposed to go their separate ways to start their own families.

Rin _was_ family to Sousuke. He had this thought in mind as he glanced over at the couch's other occupant, saw his blue eyes wide and excited.

It had been nearly a full year since Haruka had earned his legs and joined the duo on land. They lived in the same apartment that they always had, and Rin had chosen to simply invest in a queen-sized bed for the two of them to share. Sousuke was thankful for the building's thick walls— for the most part, he'd been spared from _overhearing_ anything.

Haruka was finally beginning to act like a normal human being. It had clearly been a bit of a culture shock, and that much was to be expected, but Sousuke had found himself frustrated many times upon trying to explain things to him. Haru had nearly gotten himself killed a few times, doing things like not bothering to look before crossing the street or being tempted to touch everything with a warning label on it.

Of course, if he was being honest, Sousuke had to admit that he was happy. He was happy because _Rin_ was happy. He'd never been happier, in fact. Rin was completely smitten, and this time it was more than one of his crushes, because it was mutual and wholesome and fulfilling. It seemed like Rin's smile had permanently widened. Haruka, too, had changed. He wasn't so stoic all the time, and he'd developed a sarcastic and witty sense of humor. It had been a year full of wonderful firsts, full of laughter and joy.

At the same time, Sousuke couldn't help but feel an underlying anxiety. It was something akin to jealously. He and Rin had been a team, had lived alone together, for years, and had been like brothers since their early childhood. He wasn't sure how to feel about _sharing_ him, about watching him grow up with someone else. He knew he'd have to let go eventually, but it wasn't going to be easy.

"Okay, here we go," Rin chanted under his breath. The camera angle on the screen had changed and now showed a government official sitting at a desk with a microphone and being handed a stack of papers. He adjusted his glasses, and Sousuke could see the reflections of many camera flashes in the lenses.

It was time. Sousuke, like Rin had earlier, leaned forward on the couch, his greater weight tilting the cushion so far forward that Haruka nearly toppled off. He clung to Rin to support himself. Rin was now frozen in place with his spine pressed tight against the back of the couch.

 _"...Congratulations, everyone,"_ the official said through a fond smile. _"The court has ruled unanimously in favor of the proposal."_

Sousuke and Haru stood up to cheer at the same time as everyone else in the government building on the TV screen. Sousuke could actually hear people outside of their apartment building celebrating. The only one not to join in, it seemed, was Rin— he was too busy sobbing and curling up on the couch, exactly as Sousuke had expected.

"Crybaby."

Haru said it teasingly, perhaps tenderly, as he sat beside Rin and tried to unfold him. Rin's arms were practically glued to his face, and Haru wasn't strong enough to pry them away.

Sousuke would normally have made fun of Rin, but he couldn't pretend not to understand, considering everything the man had gone through. As soon as Haru managed to pull the man up high enough and he dropped his arms for half a second, Sousuke seized them both and pulled them into a crushing hug. Haru's face was a bright pink, and Rin sobbed into his shoulder.

Sousuke smiled, feeling tears in the corners of his own eyes— tears of joy for his friends. He wondered what Rei and Nagisa and Nitori and Momo were doing right about now... if they, too, were celebrating with their loved ones.

He was happy. In this moment, at least, any feelings of jealousy or bitterness had fled him, leaving nothing but gratitude in their place.

The phones and computers in the apartment started blowing up within minutes. Sousuke fielded calls from family and friends, and Rin spoke to his hysterically crying parents on Skype while simultaneously speaking on his phone to coworkers and to his partners in the project he'd been involved in last year. Every five minutes or so, Rin had to take a break to cry again, and it seemed that only Haru could get him to stop. (Usually with kisses, and Sousuke had long ago gotten used to ignoring that.)

"Anyway, we're throwing a bit of a last-minute party this evening," Lori explained. "We're inviting all of our friends and neighbors. Would you boys like to come?"

Rin exchanged a long glance with Haru, and Sousuke watched their silent conversation.

"I guess we could do that. We were just gonna hang out in the apartment and drink champagne," Rin admitted. He turned to Sousuke. "Is that alright with you?"

Sousuke shrugged.

"Sounds like a plan. We should take the bus, though. I refuse to be the designated driver this time."

That, and the trio's only car had been acting up lately, making Sousuke reluctant to drive it if he could avoid it.

"That settles it. We'll get there as soon as we can!"

Rin ended the Skype call with his parents, and he immediately turned to Sousuke and perked up.

"Aren't we gonna call your parents? I wanna talk to—"

"I already tried. Can't get ahold of them. They must be busy. Both of 'em."

Rin frowned, for a moment, at Sousuke's oddly dismissive behavior, but chose to ignore it for now. He gently shoved Haruka.

"Everybody get dressed! Get a move on!"

Haru disappeared into the bedroom that he shared with Rin. Sousuke didn't bother to get up right away. He knew how long Rin took to get dressed up. Normally, he'd groan about it.

He couldn't manage it right now.

 

* * *

 

_The second time you feel the dry air of the world above, the circumstances are very different._

_Last time, you were here by choice, driven by curiosity and later by the urgency of saving a life. This time, you were suddenly thrust here, and your body is in excruciating pain._

_Did it hurt this much for Haruka? Did you cause him this kind of pain?_

_The bleeding has stopped, but your new limbs feel like they're on fire and there's an itchy lump in your throat. Your lungs feel so shallow, and your breaths are still coming in panicked gasps._

_You spin in a circle, looking all around you. You don't know where you are. You can't see the shore. The sky is dim. It must be early morning, like it was the last time you breathed air._

_You're not sure how long you can keep this up. You'll drown at this rate. Wouldn't that be an ironic way to die? Your muscles ache. You try to calm yourself and focus on your surroundings, and you manage to spot a rock in the far distance. It takes everything you have to get that far. You pull your body onto it and cough aa you do so._

_Haruka was closer to the shore when you transformed him. You're certain that he was able to get into his little cave on the beach. But he's a stronger swimmer than you are, and you can't even see sand. You suddenly feel very naked and wish that you had something to cover yourself with._

_You roll over and start to sob. You still don't understand what happened. You're free, free after months of a dark and lonely place, but was your freedom worth this? You couldn't possibly find the words to explain the ache in your heart if you had a thousand years to try._

_You don't know how long you sit there like that, pitifully crying into your hands, but it's long enough that the sun hangs in the sky. Then, like a ray of hope, you hear a shout._

_"Hey! You! What are you doing out here?!"_

_You look up. Somehow, without you noticing, a boat has pulled up beside you. It's a fishing boat, you think. There's only one man on board, and he's frantically running about and grabbing something. He throws you a colorful ring attached to a rope and a heavy cloth. You gratefully wrap the cloth around your body, and he shouts at you to cling to the "life preserver" so that he can pull you aboard._

_You grab his hand when he commands you to. It makes you scream in agony, but you manage to pull yourself up with one last burst of strength. You collapse as soon as you hit the inside of the boat, choking in your effort to breathe._

_"How did you get out there all by yourself?!"_

_"I-I don't know," you stammer. You obviously can't tell him the truth. He shakes his head and whistles._

_"You don't even remember, huh? Don't worry, kid. I'm gonna turn around and get ya to a doctor."_

_"Th-thank you," you sob._

_You're certain that you've never been more grateful to anyone._

 

* * *

 

Rin and Haru both plopped face-first onto the couch as soon as they reached it. Haruka, still relatively new to alcohol, seemed a little tipsy, and giggled at nothing in particular. Sousuke blinked at the two of them for a moment before casually laying across the both of them.

" _Dude_ , you weigh a thousand pounds! _Get off!_ " Rin laughed as he desperately attempted to shove Sousuke off. When he fell, his head caught the corner of the coffee table. He hissed for a brief second, but assured both Haru and Rin that he was fine, that he should've put more thought into what he was doing.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Sousuke grumbled. He was the least tired and drunk out of the three of them, after all. He _did_ wonder who would stop by this late, and it wasn't like the tiny apartment got many visitors.

As soon as Sousuke was out of earshot, Rin sat up and did his best to sit his boyfriend upright.

"Look alive! You've got that job interview tomorrow afternoon."

Haru, who seemed to remember that fact very suddenly, shook his head as hard as he could and managed to sober himself up a bit. It wasn't a glamorous job offer, but it would be his first, and so he wanted to make a good impression.

"I could use a glass of water—"

Rin leaned forward and cut his words off with a kiss. He pulled back almost as quickly as he'd leaned in.

"I'm so glad," Rin chuckled. "You have _no idea_ how happy I am."

Haruka took one of Rin's hands and smiled. He ignored the sound of the front door opening, and mostly ignored the long moment of confused ( _shocked?_ ) silence that passed before Sousuke so much as addressed the person waiting there.

"I can imagine," Haru replied.

The two shared a quiet, intimate moment where neither said anything, or, more accurately, in which neither had to say anything. Rin's warm smile said more than enough. Sousuke's suddenly raised voice shattered the silence and interrupted their brief reverie.

"Wait, _wait_ , hold on a damn second— I _do_ know you! How the hell did you— what are you— I—"

"Is something wrong, Sousuke?" Rin called out. Sousuke didn't answer in words. He only continued to sputter.

Sousuke Yamazaki was _not_ the sputtering sort.

Haruka looked above Rin's head, and as soon as his blue eyes caught sight of the door, they widened. He let Rin's hand drop from his and scrambled off of the couch.

"Is anybody gonna clue me in?!" Rin shouted incredulously. No one was speaking.

_Who the hell is at my door?!_

He stumbled angrily to his feet and stomped over to where the other two were. Sousuke was slack-jawed, and Haru's eyes watered as he clamped a hand over his mouth and attempted to hide his face.

"Who the hell—"

Rin began the question angrily, but froze the moment he saw the newcomer.

For an instant, he couldn't quite place the face. He knew it was one he'd seen before, probably at a distance or in a photograph. He turned on the camera that served as his memory until he found that face, and when he did, his heart swelled with joy.

It was the face of someone he considered a dear friend, even though he had never met him personally.

It was the face of the man who had saved his best friend, his brother, from certain death, and all while he hadn't even known him.

It was the face of the man who had freed his beloved from the confines of the sea and sent him to walk upon land by his side.

Crown Prince Makoto, of the Kingdom of Oceania— and in human form, walking on two legs.

" _Makoto!_ "

Haruka was the first to acknowledge it aloud, and he rushed forward with enough force to nearly send the other man toppling over. Makoto laughed gleefully and wrapped his arms around his friend. It was one of those hugs tight enough to hurt, the kind only shared by friends— _brothers_ , even— who hadn't seen one another in nearly a year. Sousuke was facing the other direction, now, and pretending that he had a cough and something stuck in his eye. Rin, as usual, didn't bother to hide his tears.

Makoto eventually released Haruka, who proceeded to wipe his eyes with his shirt, and turned to face Rin and laugh sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry to barge in like this, and I know it must seem awfully sudden—"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Rin interrupted. "C'mere, you son of a bitch!"

Makoto squeaked— yes, _squeaked_ — as he was suddenly seized in two separate sets of arms. Haruka laughed and closed the apartment door as his roommates practically wrestled the man into submission. A minute or two of squeezing, and then Makoto whined and tried to force his way out.

"Alright, you guys, let him go. Don't overwhelm him!" Haru pleaded, pulling on Rin's hoodie. Sousuke scoffed.

"Why don't you tell him that?! Just _showing up!_ "

"I-I said I was sorry!" Makoto stammered. Haru chuckled fondly as he took the man by the arm and guided him away from his overexcited roommates.

"He's just kidding, Makoto," he reassured. "You'll get used to it."

 

* * *

 

There were entirely too many questions for one night, but everyone was determined to get through as many of them as possible.

As soon as the crying had stopped, Rin got to work setting out dinner and drinks (the champagne they'd planned on having that morning) and had everyone sit cramped around their tiny kitchen table. The table had really only been designed for two, and one of the chairs had been purchased just for Haru and didn't match the set. In order to fit Makoto at the table, Sousuke had surrendered what was usually his chair in favor of a stool, kept near the counter, that required him to hunch over in order to eat.

"You don't have to do that," Makoto insisted one last time, wincing at the way Sousuke had to duck his head down to take a bite of his salad. The others were eating pasta, which Sousuke had refused for reasons that Makoto couldn't understand. He just rolled his eyes and didn't bother responding.

"He's stubborn," Rin warned.

"Besides, you're our guest. A guest of honor, I'd say," Haru agreed with his distinctively quick, quiet breath of a laugh. Makoto pouted, as he didn't like feeling that he was inconveniencing someone, but kept the complaint to himself. Maybe Sousuke didn't like watching other people be uncomfortable.

Rin asked the first series of questions, almost too quickly for Makoto to understand him.

"How long have you been here? Where have you been? Do you have a place to stay?"

Makoto blinked, smiling a bit awkwardly.

"I-I've been here— on land, I mean— for a little over six months. A man found me while he was out on his boat and took me to his home. He's been taking care of me and helped me learn how to live here. He also nursed me back to health. ...I couldn't walk for a long while. I'm still staying with him at the moment, but..." Makoto's ears turned pink. "...I wanted to ask if there was a way I could stay with all of you, since my goal from the beginning was to find you. That doesn't seem reasonable, though, if the size of this place is any—"

"You're staying," Rin and Sousuke said at once. Haru shook his head, but smiled.

"The sofa opens up into a bed. You can sleep there," Rin offered. Makoto fidgeted.

"But where would I keep my things?"

"I don't have a lot of stuff," Sousuke said dismissively. "You could use some of my drawers."

"I-I don't want to have to barge into your room every time I need something!" Makoto blurted out, embarrassed. The larger man chuckled.

"I'm sure you know how to knock. 'Sides, I don't have anything to hide."

He flashed a grin. Makoto looked at him strangely. His features seemed so different now— when he'd last seen him, he'd been confused and scared and in pain. Now, he was relaxed, and smiling happily. He looked better that way, though it seemed the slant of his brow was permanent, giving his smiles an almost devious edge.

"I... I suppose it will have to do for now." The trio of roommates cheered. "BUT I do plan on getting my own place! A few of the apartments on this floor are for sale... Including the one across the hall. I do hope that it stays unoccupied long enough for me to rent it. Wouldn't it be lovely to be neighbors?"

Makoto closed his eyes, and his smile said that he was daydreaming of the future he hoped for. Haru patted his shoulder.

"That would be nice, but for now, we just want to keep you close to us. I..." Haru's features hardened. "I honestly thought I would never see you again."

Makoto shook his head. It seemed he wanted to avoid that kind of sad talk.

"So are you learning what you need to? Do you have a job? What about paperwork?"

"I help Mr. Gorou out on his boat, and I do some chores for him in his workshop, and he pays me quite generously for it. He's also helping me train for another job that I'm interested in. I'm studying some books that he got me so that I can pass for someone with a high school education. And I do have the various forms of identification that I need."

Makoto stopped to fish something out of his pocket. He pulled out a modest wallet and took out a card, which he placed on the table. Haru took it before the others could get a good look at it.

"He's almost as tall as you are, Sousuke," Haru snickered, reading the details. "Why _Tachibana?_ "

"He said that it was the name of his best friend from high school," Makoto explained. "Why? Is it a silly name?"

"Of course not," Sousuke replied before Haru could. "Can you drive a car?" Makoto laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck.

"I'm still learning. They're scary!"

"Sousuke could help you out with that. He's our best driver," Rin supplied. Makoto's expression twisted oddly, flashing through many emotions too quickly for Rin to properly read them, until he settled on a concerned grimace. Makoto stared at Sousuke for a long moment without saying anything.

"What?" Sousuke grunted. Makoto opened and closed his mouth several times before speaking.

"I... don't know that I should learn to drive from you."

"He just said I'm our best driver, didn't he?

"I-I have difficulty believing such a thing!"

"What?! Why the hell—"

"Are you idiots forgetting how the two of them met?" Haru interrupted. Sousuke paused, and when he realized, he hid his face in his hands.

Makoto had literally pried his near-lifeless body from the wreck of a car accident.

After that, Haru's laughter told Makoto that he didn't need to be so serious. The group asked him many more questions, some of them silly, and the conversation was happy and light. That is, until Rin asked the wrong question.

"I know we've been kind of avoiding it, but..." Rin looked Makoto directly in the eye. " _How did you get here?_ Haruka said they must have thrown you in the prisons, and I doubt they would have just handed you the trident."

Makoto's smile turned sad. Sousuke quickly decided that he didn't like that smile very much.

"I... don't want to talk about that. Let's focus on the positives, shall we? None of those... _unpleasant_ things."

There was a moment of silence. Haruka tapped his friend's shoulder. Makoto leaned in, and Sousuke barely heard Haru whispering something into his ear, and Makoto's reply came even more quietly. Haru gave a nod.

"Right, then... We'll talk about something else. ...Like the court decision today." Haruka smiled at Rin.

 

* * *

 

Sousuke ushered Haruka and Rin off of bed early.

"I'll take care of him," Sousuke insisted when Haru directed his attention to Makoto. He'd arrived with only a small duffel bag containing the essentials for a few nights, but it would still be best to get him settled in and to show him how the bed worked. Rin grinned.

"You wanna talk to him alone, right? I get it. We'll leave you be."

Sousuke nodded gratefully.

"Thanks."

He closed the door behind his friends, allowed himself a moment to gather his courage, and turned to face his newest roommate. Makoto smiled. His ever-present smile was almost like magic— the moment he did it, it was like a lightbulb turned on, one that brightened the entire room. Sousuke offered a shy and fleeting one in return. He was self-conscious about smiling, and Makoto seemed to notice this, as he giggled.

"I'll, uh, get the couch ready. They're going to sleep."

Makoto watched, fascinated, as Sousuke removed all of the couch cushions and pillows and pulled out the mattress portion that made up the bed. He placed down a couple of fluffy pillows, one taken from his own bed (he always kept an extra one to put under his shoulder if it began to ache), and patted the mattress.

"It's not the softest or the biggest, but it'll do for now." Sousuke glared at its length. "I hope your toes don't stick out. You're pretty tall."

"I hope so, too."

They were both quiet for a long minute. It didn't feel awkward or strained, though— each man was simply taking the time for a quick mental rest. The apartment was bathed in mostly darkness, now. The lamp beside the couch cast an orange-tinted glow about the living room.

While Makoto off somewhere towards the kitchen, Sousuke took a seat at the end of the mattress and patted the spot beside him. Makoto took a moment too long to respond. Sousuke wondered if he made him feel uncomfortable— his intimidating form and harsh features often had that effect on people. He cleared his throat a bit louder than he'd intended. Funny— he hadn't been this nervous only a moment ago.

"What is it?" Makoto prodded when Sousuke didn't say anything. Sousuke ran a hand through his own hair, tugging harshly on it, in order to focus himself.

"Do you, uh... Remember me?"

It was silly question. Makoto had already indicated as much— that he remembered Sousuke and that he remembered the day they met. He gave a solemn nod and put a hand over his heart.

"I do. It was frightening. I did what little I could."

_What little you could? Had it been literally anyone else..._

Sousuke smirked.

"Haru said you have some powers."

Makoto paused, momentarily, halfway through putting a strand of his hair back behind his ear. He needed to get his hair trimmed, Sousuke noticed, as some strands fell into his eyes in a way that didn't look comfortable.

"...I do. Why do you mention it?"

"Is one of those powers superhuman strength?"

"Not as far as I know," Makoto answered honestly, shaking his head. Sousuke's smirk widened.

"Well, then, congrats on your newfound power. ...After the crash, my captain called in to have the car removed from the water immediately. It can be dangerous for the fish and for beachgoers— all that broken glass."

"Haru said that he couldn't find it afterwards," Makoto recalled. "They must have already finished pulling it out."

"Exactly. When they looked at that car, they also examined it to try and determine exactly how I was hit, and they noticed something a bit strange." Sousuke looked Makoto in the eye almost suspiciously. "...They found that someone had ripped the car door clean off and torn the seatbelts up."

Makoto furrowed his brow, looking confused.

"I... did that, yes. I had to get you out of there. Why is that so strange?" Sousuke barked out a sharp laugh that Makoto hadn't expected, making him flinch.

" _They're not designed to come off_ , Makoto. The seatbelt is hard enough to rip as it is, but a _car door?_ No normal human being can rip one off of its hinges like that."

"Really?! I mean, it took a few tugs, but... It didn't seem like that big of a deal at the time."

It took Sousuke several seconds to finish laughing at Makoto's flushed face. He couldn't understand what the man found so embarrassing.

"Adrenaline does that, sometimes. When we're scared enough or desperate enough, we can sometimes do things we normally couldn't." Sousuke smiled to himself without looking at Makoto, apparently remembering something with a mixture of fondness and sadness.

"...That could be it. Whatever it was, I'm glad it happened."

"Wh-which is what I wanted to say. I, um..." Sousuke trailed off to fidget for a moment, rolling one of his shoulders around and wincing as he did so. "...I just wanted to thank you, somehow. In person. When I thought I wouldn't ever get the chance, I was kind of... unreasonably upset. So... _Thank you_."

Sousuke's eyes, more intense than ever, made Makoto so self-conscious that he had to look down at his feet to avoid turning an even darker shade of red.

"Y-you don't have to—"

"It's not that I _have to_ , really. It's that... Well, none of this would have happened if you weren't such a selfless person. I would've died, Haruka and Rin never would have met, Haru never would have been able to join us on land... You're the reason for everything, and I honestly don't know how to repay you for that. How could I?"

Makoto felt his eyes water. He was genuinely touched. Sousuke seemed annoyed, suddenly. Probably with himself. It seemed that he'd said more than he originally intended to. After taking a second to swallow down the lump in his throat, Makoto gently patted the other man's knee.

"You can start by relaxing a little bit. I didn't save your life just for you be a nervous wreck around me."

Sousuke's eyes went wide, and he made a strange kind of choking noise. Makoto found this kind of embarrassment from him oddly cute. He fell into a fit of laughter.

"I'm gonna go to bed," Sousuke grumbled, hurriedly standing up. Makoto nodded.

"Alright, alright. I promise not to tease you in the morning."

"You'd better not." He stopped at the doorway to his own bedroom, turning back to look at Makoto one last time. Makoto could just barely see him. "We'll get all of your stuff put away in the morning. Sure you'll be okay out here all by yourself?"

Makoto turned a bit pink at that and scratched his cheek. He was sure the man hadn't meant anything in particular by it, but he couldn't help but find the comment a bit suggestive anyway. Maybe Sousuke was an unconscious flirt.

"I'm sure I'll manage. It's getting late— you should go to sleep."

"...Right. I'll see you. ...Don't go anywhere, okay?"

"Where would I run off to? ...Good night, Sousuke." Makoto curled up into the blanket Sousuke had given him to use. It smelled very faintly of someone's deodorant or cologne, and he wondered if it was his.

"Yeah. Night, Makoto."

He heard Makoto mumble something else, something slurred with the weight of sleep, but didn't bother asking him to repeat it. The man feel asleep very quickly. Sousuke closed the door behind him and padded across his room, where he took a moment to make sure that he did, in fact, have an empty dresser drawer. It looked big enough to hold at least a week's worth of clothing and undergarments.

When he was done organizing, he crawled into his bed and laid flat on his back. Sousuke smiled as he felt himself beginning to drift off.

Makoto's teasing aside, he was certain that he'd just experienced one of the greatest days of his life.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TADAAAAAAA IT'S BACK! And as is tradition with me, my writing slowly gets longer and longer. Though part of the reason this chapter is this long is because I refused to NOT include Makoto's very detailed flashback at the beginning.
> 
> Expect updates not as frequently or quickly as with my last story (I mostly posted this just to prove I'm working on it). I'm STILL not sure about certain plot details, but I figured the best way around that was to let the story work that out organically for itself. Making charts won't help as much as just WRITING, you know? This one involves more characters and stuff, so the chapters should be longer, too. That and as I've written more and more, I have lost my ability to write anything short. I want to include too much stuff! When I started the first part, I had about nine chapters written up in advance. I don't have that shield this time. :'D We're writing in real time.
> 
> I'd also like to warn you all in advance that you WILL want to strangle Sousuke about 12,000 times throughout the course of this fic, but have patience with the poor boy. He has a lot to work through, mostly denial.


	2. Fast Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: VERY LONG FOR A SECOND CHAPTER! I didn't realize it would be so long when I plotted it out in my head!! I organize my fics in such a way that I have the chapters structured in advance, so everything has to go where I planned it to, and sometimes it results in things like this...

As much as he liked him and enjoyed his company, Sousuke could not help but be suspicious of Makoto.

All his life he had suspected the worst of people. If someone was especially nice, they were probably thinking especially mean thoughts. If someone seemed perfectly honest, they probably had a gambling habit. If someone seemed like a perfect partner, they were probably getting satisfaction elsewhere. It was the way he thought, the way he defended himself from surprises.

Makoto was different. _Disturbingly, horrifyingly different._

Makoto said nice things, and he would then leave the room before the compliment could be returned. Like he said it simply because he _meant_ _it_ and because it was _nice_ and not because he was expecting something in return.

He would give small gifts without any sort of reason. He would go out shopping, and he would see that candy bar he saw you eating that one time that you said is hard to find, and he would buy three of them for you just because they'd reminded him of you. And when asked what he wanted in return, he would just laugh. _Laugh_.

As he watched Makoto flitting about the room and humming to himself, Sousuke warily eyed him and clenched and unclenched his fists. He was heading to the stove, and putting on oven mitts, and getting something out and placing it on the stovetop to cool.

Sousuke could smell something sweet. Something warm. Something gooey.

 _Cookies. He baked motherfucking chocolate chip cookies,_ Sousuke thought, feeling completely incredulous. It was like he'd gone through a list of Snow White stereotypes and checked them off one by one. That was probably why it always took him so long to buy groceries— he had to stop to dance through the woods and sing with the animals.

Makoto plated all of the cookies that he could and got two glasses of milk. He excitedly plopped down into Rin's spot on the couch and put down the food, doing an odd wiggling dance of sorts in his happiness. Sousuke glared at him.

"You baked COOKIES? Are you a friggin' Disney Princess?"

Makoto smiled as he recalled the movies he'd seen so far.

"I'd like to be!"

Sousuke groaned and hid his face in his palms. A couple of minutes passed as Makoto waited for his treats to cool, and then he sampled one. His smile told Sousuke that he liked the taste.

"Try one!" Makoto offered. Sousuke shook his head.

"No, no. I don't do empty calories."

Blank staring. Makoto tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy.

"...Cookies are full of nothing but sugar and empty carbohydrates. Those make humans fat. I don't wanna get fat," Sousuke clarified. Makoto laughed and shook his head.

"Everything in moderation, right? A few cookies won't make you gain weight in one night. And you exercise, don't you? Rin says you're usually going to the gym when you leave in the afternoon."

"That's true, but..." Sousuke glared at the cookie. "I just don't do well with sweets, okay?"

"...Oh. That's alright, then. You don't have to have one if you don't want to. I'll ask Haru when he gets back."

Makoto smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. When he thought that Sousuke had directed all of his attention at his phone, he pouted, looking painfully disappointed.

 _Oh, come on. You're not going to abandon your diet just because of some puppy dog eyes, are you? You're better than that,_ the voice in Sousuke's head warned.

Makoto took another cookie and studied it, looking unsure of whether or not he should try it.

_Don't do it._

Makoto sighed and put the cookie back down.

_...Dammit._

" _Fine_ ," Sousuke grumbled, grabbing hold of the cookie that Makoto had dropped. His expression seemed to brighten instantly.

"You'll try one? I'm so glad!" He flashed that infuriatingly sweet smile where he closed his eyes and tilted his head. Sousuke muttered angrily to himself as he took his first bite.

Once he did, everything changed.

" _Good lord_."

The entire cookie was gone before Makoto even had a chance to react.

"...Is that a good thing?"

"What the hell did you put in there?!"

Makoto jumped, fidgeting in his seat.

"J-just the normal stuff! I looked up recipes on my phone to get an idea of what's in them and then made up my own. Did I do something wrong?"

"No, exactly the opposite. There's no way that was your first batch!"

Sousuke refused to believe that Makoto had somehow perfected the cookie on his first attempt. Everything was perfect— the texture, the temperature, the amount of sugar— _everything_. The cookies were perfectly gooey and soft and comforting without being mushy or tooth-achingly sweet.

"But it was! If I had made any before I would have offered you some," Makoto insisted.

A ridiculously kind argument.

Sousuke couldn't help but scoff as he grabbed another cookie. Makoto eventually stood to refill the plate, left the plate full of cookies on the table, and promptly sat back down on the couch only to get distracted by his textbook— he was doing well in working towards his GED, he'd said, and he spent most of his time studying when he wasn't busy being an angel. Or Snow White. Or whatever he was.

When he heard the key in the lock of the apartment door, Makoto stood to greet Haru and Rin as cheerfully as always. He told them he was glad to see them and asked if they had had a good time, which Rin replied somewhat sarcastically to— "how good a time can someone have at the mechanic's?" He admitted that he was happy, however, that the car was now properly fixed, and Makoto smiled and said that it made him happy to see Rin so relieved. Sousuke groaned from his armchair. He still didn't know if he should believe Makoto or not. Was anybody genuinely that polite?

"I'm onto you, _Tachibana_ ," he grumbled. Makoto laughed, and then seemed to remember something.

"Oh, that's right! I made cookies, and I wanted to offer the two of you some of the—"

When Makoto turned to look at the coffee table, where he'd left an entire plate of cookies no less than twenty minutes ago, his expression faded until he looked completely stunned. Haru looked past him to the table and smirked.

"Where are they...?" Makoto mumbled under his breath. Sousuke avoided his eyes.

"... _Sousuke_ ," Rin whispered, horrified.

Makoto suddenly understood what had happened.

" _Sousuke!_ " He turned the name into an admonishment.

"I have no excuse to offer you," Sousuke replied, his voice full of shame as he looked down at the empty plate.

"Did you just eat an entire batch of cookies by yourself?!"

"I regret everything I've ever done."

" _Oh my god_."

"Every decision I've ever made that led me to becoming this person, every chance I had to turn back—"

"Is that why you never eat sweets?! Because you have no self-control?!" Rin interrupted. Sousuke hid his face, embarrassed, as Rin howled with laughter.

And just like that, Makoto had exposed his most embarrassing secret.

His strict diet and gym regimen and complete refusal of any and all sweets— all of it was more rehabilitation than anything else. If he got his hands on something sugary and delicious, he couldn't stop himself. It was pitiful.

Before Makoto could say anything else, Rin grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into the kitchen, eying Sousuke.

"No, see, this is actually a good thing," he whispered. "That guy is constantly beefing up, getting bigger and bigger, and he needs new clothes every couple of months because he can't button his shirts anymore. If he's eating your cookies all the time, he'll just be burning off the calories! It's foolproof!"

"I-I don't want to ruin his diet!" Makoto argued. He felt strangely guilty for having exposed this side of his new friend. "I'm not going to keep on baking cookies just to sabotage his—"

" _Anyway_ ," Haru interrupted, speaking very loudly. Sousuke looked up towards him. "Rin and I are going on a date tonight. You're on your own."

"So _that's_ why you paid to get the car fixed," Sousuke grumbled. Rin knew he was only teasing, and so he ignored it.

"Pretty much. The bus isn't exactly romantic, and we'd have to walk pretty far. We should be back by ten."

Rin turned and made his way for his bedroom, muttering something about getting dressed. Sousuke snapped fully to attention.

"Wait, you're leaving now?"

"Not NOW now," Rin scoffed. "Does this look like a date outfit to you?! We're gonna get dressed and then we'll go. We're seeing a play."

Sousuke, not wanting to ruin their evening, kept his complaints to himself. The pair was dressed and out the door within twenty minutes, and at only seven, leaving Sousuke and Makoto with three hours of empty time.

Surprisingly, Makoto wasn't difficult to keep busy. He was content to sit and continue studying on the couch while Sousuke did or watched whatever he wanted. He flipped through channels for a while before settling on a channel that Rin used to watch anime. The show was on for only a few minutes before Makoto looked up, confused.

"Did he... say something about a mechanically-powered cat?"

Sousuke raised an eyebrow. _The word would be robot,_ he didn't say.

"You can understand everything?"

Makoto chuckled.

"Er, not _everything_. My Japanese is only conversational. I wouldn't know modern slang or anything like that."

"Heh. That was me until last year. I had to brush up because Rin kept making fun of me. Mom's proud, though."

"She's an immigrant?"

"Yep. And she's shy, so her English still isn't perfect. She gets expressions wrong all the time."

"She sounds cute," Makoto cooed. Sousuke gave an awkward nod.

By nine, Sousuke felt his stomach rumbling for food, and Makoto offered to make dinner. Naively assuming that he would be good at it, Sousuke agreed, and Makoto used what was around the house to make some miso soup and some fish.

Watching him, he seemed to have a general idea of what he was doing, but Sousuke made the mistake of not looking at him when he seasoned the food just before serving it. Sousuke took one bite and nearly spit it back out.

_What happened to it?!_

"Well?" Makoto asked innocently. Sousuke cleared his throat and tried to act casual.

"It's good," he lied. It was impossible to tell him the truth.

As Makoto happily continued to eat, Sousuke coughed into his hand, trying not to choke on all of the salt. Could Makoto not taste it? How did someone with such a terrible sense of measurement become such a good baker?

He forced a smile and a nod. Makoto didn't have to know, but he _would_ warn the others.

He decided, just then, that Makoto was a bit odd. But, well... That much was okay. Sousuke was a bit odd, too.

Rin and Haru returned about thirty minutes later than they'd said they would, and Sousuke had his suspicions as to _why_ , but didn't say anything. Everyone decided to turn in, since both Sousuke and Rin had work in the morning (Haru worked shifts in the late afternoon, usually, as a dishwasher and busboy at a local diner). Sousuke couldn't help but notice the matted hair on the back of Haru's head, almost like he'd been lying down in the backseat of the car, but didn't point this out to him.

For now, he let his friends continue to think that they were sneaky.

As he did every night, Sousuke watched Makoto set up his sofa bed. He was always worried, for some reason, that he would do it wrong. It was a strange fear, since the worst thing that could happen was an uncomfortable sleep or an awkward poke. Perhaps it had simply become a part of his routine. When Makoto had finished and settled down into his blankets (he'd purchased several fluffy throws and liked to cocoon himself inside of them), he smiled.

"Night, Sousuke."

Sousuke flinched. How did he _always_ know he was there, even without seeing him? He rubbed the back of his neck and walked halfway into his bedroom.

"...Right. Sleep tight, Makoto."

 

* * *

 

A couple of mornings later, as Sousuke prepared his scrambled egg whites, Makoto peered hopefully at him from the counter. Sousuke sighed.

"What do you want, Makoto?"

He flinched, looking mildly wounded for a moment, before he smiled.

"Rin said you've been going of the gym an awful lot lately. I wanted to know if... If I could come along sometimes? I don't know how to use any of the equipment, but I need to get back into shape."

Sousuke looked the man over and raised an eyebrow. _What do you mean, BACK into shape?!_ As far as he could tell, Makoto wasn't much that smaller than he was. Haru answered the question for him, appearing suddenly and silently behind Sousuke as he so often loved to do.

"He's usually muchmore toned," Haru observed through a yawn. "He's gone and gotten a little chubby."

Haru smirked. Makoto reddened and studied his hands, folded on the countertop. Sousuke shot Haru a glare. It wasn't fair to criticize him for gaining weight. He'd been unable to so much as walk for a long while, and Sousuke doubted that maintaining his figure had been Makoto's first priority when he was learning about the human world.

"A little chub never hurt anybody," Sousuke insisted, "but yeah, you can come along if you want. I'll teach you how to use everything. ...I usually have to drive myself there anyway." Makoto smiled happily. When he smiled like that, it almost seemed like sunbeams radiated from his face.

Rin burst out of his bedroom, interrupting the conversation, when he heard the voices.

"Okay, so since everyone's up and has an off day..." He tried to stand tall and proud, but it was hard to take him seriously with his red hair sticking out everywhere. "I wanted to propose that we all head somewhere together." He pointed at Makoto. "I, for one, want to meet this guy that rescued you. You're still going down there to work for him almost every day, and we know hardly anything about the guy!"

Makoto seemed to contemplate that for a moment, and then he flashed a friendly smile.

"Sure, why not? He's been curious about the three of you."

Rin cheered, running towards the bathroom.

"It's a deal! Sousuke— bro. Make enough food for everybody, and then we'll head out."

Sousuke (after convincing Makoto that he was, in fact, a good driver) was charged with driving the entire group down to where Makoto said he'd been living. They ended up in a beautiful seaside town. Parts of it looked like something out of a resort, and other sections were like little fishing villages. Most of it seemed somewhere in between, and Sousuke guessed they were the homes of commercial fisherman.

Sousuke knew the neighborhood, but wasn't about to tell Rin that, and so he pretended not to recognize anything and continued to take Makoto's directions.

They pulled up to a respectably spacious beach house connected to a big dock, a small but well-kept fishing vessel tied down to several of its posts. The home had a "boat garage" of sorts that opened out into the water. It seemed that the boat could be moved inside of it to shelter it from the weather, and perhaps to do repairs or repaint it. It was a lovely setup, a stark contrast to the beat-up pickup truck that sat in the driveway and the broken tiles on the roof. Sousuke wondered what kind of man lived here.

Makoto confirmed that this was the right house and quickly unbuckled his seatbelt to run up the driveway. Rin and Haru stumbled out after him, and Sousuke formed the tail end of the procession. The owner of the home had apparently been watching from the window and waiting, or had heard the sound of the car door closing, because he appeared within seconds to stand within the doorway and wave an arm.

"Makoto! You brought your friends? Come on in, I'll make us some food!"

Sousuke stopped walking. He thought, for a moment, that he recognized the man. Before he could turn to say something to Makoto, Rin ran ahead of everyone.

"Coach Sasabe?!"

 

* * *

 

"Coach" Sasabe— _Gorou_ , as Makoto called him— had a job that left him with plenty of free time and good pay and benefits.

He both relaxed and earned extra money by catching fish and selling them at the local market. It was when he was out fishing, one day, that he had noticed Makoto weeping, alone, on a rock formation. Sasabe had taken the man in to care for him, as Makoto had, for obvious reasons, refused to be taken to the hospital.

Sasabe was delighted to see everyone he'd heard so much about from Makoto. He prepared tuna salad and sliced deli meats and a heaping pile of crackers and Melba toast and put them all on a platter that he placed on his living room's coffee table, where he commanded everyone to sit. He had a loud and boisterous laugh and loved both telling and hearing great stories. He was exactly the kind of oddball that Sousuke had guessed would live in this house.

After having a few crackers and a sip of lemonade, Haru turned to Makoto, wondering what story he had given to Sasabe to explain his predicament. Sasabe answered the question for him.

"So how do you guys know each other? Makoto here refuses to tell me outright. Are you all covert navy spies, too?"

Sousuke nearly let his food fall out of his mouth.

" _Excuse_ me?"

Sasabe laughed and waved it off.

"You don't have to hide it from me," Sasabe teased, grinning proudly. "I mean, why else would he refuse to tell me—"

"When Gorou found me, I'd just barely survived one of my secret missions," Makoto said, loud and sharp enough that it couldn't be ignored. "I sustained a terrible head injury and couldn't remember anything at first— not even my own last name. Gorou helped me establish a new identity to escape my enemies, and he used his connections to help me find the three of you."

Sousuke tried his hardest not to laugh. _That_ was the story Makoto had come up with? That he was a secret operative with amnesia? And worse still, Sasabe had bought the whole thing?

The amnesia aspect was sensible enough. There were few other explanations for Makoto's total lack of knowledge about the human world (Sousuke had thought he seemed suspicious within minutes of talking to him, after all). But to make up such a wild story with such a high need for secrecy almost defeated the purpose of making up a story at all.

"Makoto was raised differently than I was," Haru said quietly while Sasabe laughed with Makoto. "I would have told him the truth, but Makoto's first instinct is to be secretive."

Sousuke hummed. He could understand that much. It wasn't like Makoto could mentally rewrite his father's teachings overnight.

It became clear, rather quickly, that Sasabe really did think that Makoto was some kind of secret agent who wanted out of the business so that he could live a normal life. He also seemed convinced that Sousuke, Haru, and Rin were essentially the same, but that they had all successfully escaped and renamed themselves before Makoto could.

"I can't imagine having to leave a colleague behind like that," Sasabe said sympathetically.

"...Right. It, uh, sucked," Rin lied. "Do you have any more tuna?" Haru smacked Rin across the side of the head. "Ow! Domestic abuse!"

No one paid any attention to Rin's dramatic whining.

"What kind of connections do you have that led you to us?" Haru asked, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. Sasabe flashed a proud and devious grin.

"My fiancée! She happens to be a very talented private investigator— owns her own business! All Makoto could remember was your first names and descriptions, and he knew two of you were cops. Besides that, he said that you probably lived in the area and that one of you had been in a car accident recently."

Sousuke blinked.

"...That doesn't sound like a whole lot to go on."

"And that's what I thought, right?!" Sasabe agreed, slapping Sousuke on the back. "But my Miho, she said that's a lot more than what she usually gets. Only took her a few months to find the three of you, even with all her other cases to juggle!"

He laughed his hearty sailor's laugh again, and as he did, Rin looked curiously at Makoto.

"Only a few months? If you knew where we were, why did you wait so long to come and find us?"

Makoto looked shyly down at the table.

"I already told you... It was over a month before I could even walk. I was weak, and I was scared, and I had no schooling, no job, and no money. I wanted to see you all when I was ready! I didn't want to be a burden."

He fell silent, and Sousuke wasn't sure what to say.

When he'd found Haru after his transformation, he, too, had been weak and unable to even stand. But Haru had stayed with a doctor and a former college athlete. They'd been able to help him at a professional level. Makoto had been found by... Well. _This_ oddball.

"Hey, Makoto, go get Rin some more tuna, will ya? I'd do it myself, but I'm tired."

The request was sudden, and Sasabe looked uncharacteristically serious as he asked. Makoto seemed startled, but he nodded and stood up, making his way towards what Sousuke could only assume was the kitchen. Sasabe turned to face the three remaining men.

"...Y'know, I'm a little old to be getting married for the first time."

" _I'll_ say," Rin commented. Haru silenced him with another slap.

"I spent all my younger years wasting my parents' money and using women. Eventually everybody got sick of me. And then, there I was... In my late thirties with nothing to show for it. I never got to have kids, and now, my parents are gone."

Sousuke frowned.

"It's not too late for kids, if you want 'em that badly. My mom had me at forty. And there's always adoption—"

Sasabe waved him off.

"Ya gotta let me finish. ...I found that boy all alone, hear me? For the past six months, it's almost been like raising a kid of my own. He didn't know what a microwave was, and I basically had to babyproof the house so he wouldn't get himself killed. I had to push him around in his chair those first couple of months, has to teach him new words every day... Do you see where I'm going with this?"

Haru nodded.

"It sounds like you found a son."

Sousuke snuck a glance at Rin, then smirked. As he'd guessed, he was trying to discreetly wipe tears from the corners of his eyes. Sasabe sighed.

"...I won't lie to you boys. I'm sad to see him go. I think he knows that. It's why he agreed to keep workin' for me when the commercial fishermen can pay more, I'm sure." He paused to glance at the doorway and make sure Makoto hadn't returned yet. "...Whoever you guys really are. Wherever you came from... I want you to promise me you'll look after him, okay? The kid's practically an angel."

Haru smiled a knowing and grateful smile.

"He is."

A few seconds of silence, and then Makoto returned, carrying a bowl with the rest of the tuna salad. Sousuke knew right away that he'd been eavesdropping— how long could it have taken him to grab that bowl? He smiled, deciding to keep the observation to himself.

Everyone finished their food, and then Sasabe gave them a tour or his boat and his work spaces— one for fixing the boat and any equipment that was malfunctioning, and another for cleaning and cutting the fish that he caught. Rin promised Sasabe that they would all go fishing sometime as he and his friends turned to head back to their car, leaving Makoto with him to get his work done. Rin elbowed Sousuke.

"Maybe we should bring Daisuke along. I haven't seen him in ages."

"Maybe."

Sousuke offered no other response and quickly changed the subject. The ride home was mostly quiet.

As soon as the apartment door closed behind him, Haru finally spoke up.

"I'm glad he's found something like a proper family," he said. Sousuke grunted an agreement.

"His real dad's pretty awful, right?" Rin asked. Sousuke scoffed.

"His dad's 'the King', remember? The one who would beat his wife, and then tried getting Haruka executed, and then locked up his own son?!"

Rin's face turned blank, and then sad.

"...Right. I _know_ all of that. I just... fail to make that connection sometimes. I mean, how could they possibly be related?! Makoto is so _nice_."

"Don't bring it up in front of him."

Rin and Sousuke looked at Haru. He was dead serious.

"...His family?" Rin clarified. Haru nodded.

"It's what I asked him about that first night. He doesn't want to talk about his family or about the prisons. _At all_. So don't bring it up, okay?"

Sousuke gave a firm nod. He knew only that Makoto had a mean, vile father and a sad, passive mother. Neither Makoto nor Haru had mentioned any other family.

And as curious as he was, Sousuke wouldn't dare ask to know more.

A promise is a promise.

 

* * *

 

Several days passed normally. Sousuke felt a bit more comfortable around Makoto, even if he did make him feel inexplicably nervous. He'd gotten to a point where he didn't show this.

Haruka seemed strangely determined to make the two of them become friends.

On this particular day, Sousuke got home from work a bit later than Rin did, having taken the bus. The walks to and from the bus stations, short as they were, left him exhausted.

"You shouldn't work out so much if you're going to be this tired later," Makoto gently reprimanded. He was at the coffee table with his textbooks spread out in front of him again, and now, it seemed, he had reading glasses. When had he gotten those?

Sousuke cursed under his breath. He didn't like being fussed over, so he'd tried to keep the ache in his muscles hidden, but Makoto was unusually good at reading the subtleties in people's facial expressions.

"It's not the gym," Sousuke argued. "It was a long day and I had to walk. That's all."

Makoto's expression didn't change. He didn't believe him, but he kept it to himself.

Rin burst from his bedroom again. He'd been doing that a lot lately— waiting until he knew everyone was home and then suddenly appearing. Haruka followed behind him. They waited just long enough for Sousuke to remove his tie and sit in his armchair. He stopped moving when he saw the expectant looks on their faces.

"...What do you two want?" he asked. He tried not to sound suspicious. He failed. Makoto peered up from his history book. Rin squirmed under Sousuke's stern gaze.

"S-see, it's... It's already been a year," Rin stammered.

"...What?"

"It's our anniversary this weekend, idiot," Haru added, far more aggressively than he needed to. "We're going away for a private retreat."

"Wh-which means, er..." Rin glanced over at Haru, and then they both raised their arms as if announcing that Sousuke had won a brand new car.

" _You're on your own!_ "

They half-sang the announcement simultaneously. Sousuke frowned.

"Did you two _practice_ that—"

"How long do you intend to be gone?" Makoto asked politely. Rin looked away.

"Er, three days..."

Sousuke nearly choked on a breath of air.

"DAYS?! What about the captai—"

"I asked for time off, _obviously_ ," Rin retorted. His nervousness had been suddenly replaced by annoyance. "We've got so many new people now. Cap can afford to give people time off. In fact..." He grinned, his shark teeth glistening. "As of tomorrow, _you_ , too, are on vacation!"

Makoto laughed at Sousuke's expression— so shocked that it was completely blank.

"...Excuse me?"

"Consider it a gift from the Captain. He says you've seemed stressed out about something lately, so he wants you to relax. Go to a spa or something. Take a bubble bath, I don't know."

" _I don't do bubble baths, Rin._ "

"Bubble bath...?" Makoto echoed in a whisper. He always did that when he didn't know what a word or phrase meant. He had a habit of talking to himself, Sousuke noticed.

Haru quietly told Makoto what a bubble bath was as Rin and Sousuke continued to argue. Sousuke resigned himself to his mandatory vacation just as Makoto beamed and said that bubble baths "sound delightful".

" _Fine_ ," Sousuke growled. "It's not like I have a say in the matter anyway! When are you leaving?"

"In a few hours," Rin answered, looking relieved. "We made sure the fridge is stocked, and there's some money in case you wanna get a pizza or something—"

"I make my own money. So does he."

"But Makoto has to save for his lease," Haru reminded him. "Just accept the money!"

Sousuke sunk low in his chair, muttering to himself. Rin had known that Sousuke wouldn't like the arrangement.

Sousuke worried about Rin (and, by extension, Haruka) when he couldn't keep an eye on them. Sousuke didn't like feeling like he had to keep people entertained, either. But most of all, Sousuke still couldn't read Makoto. Rin could tell that much by observing their interactions.

Rin chose to believe that this vacation would be good for them both— after three days alone together, Rin hoped that Sousuke could accept that Makoto was exactly what he said he was (as hard as it was to believe sometimes).

Rin and Haru took their time getting packed. They took turns leaving the room to go check up on and suck up to Sousuke, who absentmindedly watched baseball. He'd usually offer only a grunt in reply.

It was, ironically, Makoto who soothed him.

"What kind of sporting game is this?" he asked. Sousuke raised an eyebrow.

"This? It's baseball." He ignored the use of the words 'sporting game'.

"How does it work? What must one do to win?"

Makoto really did make faces very similar to those of a puppy. He was, at the moment, hugging a pillow. He rested his chin there and peeked up with bright eyes like a dog that wanted to be pet. Sousuke shrugged.

"Well, that's— I mean, it's a long explanation. Kind of complicated. I'm sure you don't wanna hear me ramble about all of that."

Makoto pouted.

"But I do," he promised.

Sousuke fidgeted as he tried to determine where to begin.

"Well, uh... that guy in the middle is called the pitcher. And the one with the stick is the batter. The stick is called a bat. The pitcher is trying to throw the ball so fast that he can't hit it. But if the batter does hit it, he gets to try and run to that squarish shape on his right. It's called first base."

"Got it. But why is that man behind him, and why is there a cage over his face?"

Sousuke tried not to laugh. He was stubborn. He'd already deciding on being grouchy, and here Makoto was, ruining his perfectly good bad mood.

"It's a mask, not a cage," he explained. "He's called the umpire, and he catches the ball and throws it back if the batter misses. That mask is to protect his face. Getting hit in the head by a baseball traveling that fast can actually kill you."

"Really?!"

"Oh, _definitely_. It's happened before. Anyway, the batter has three tries to hit the ball. Each miss is called a strike, and missing all three times is called striking out."

"And what happens if you strike out?"

"Hey, guys? We're going now," Rin called. He and Haru stood together by the door, carrying bags full of luggage. Sousuke looked over the back of the couch and gave a half-wave.

"Right, yeah, have a good time. Anyway, if the batter strikes out, then..."

Rin turned to Haru, who snickered and shook his head. Rin wasn't sure what he had been so afraid of. The couple left, and as they drove to their hotel, Sousuke explained everything about how baseball worked, eventually forgetting why he had ever been grouchy.

 

* * *

 

Day one.

Vacation.

Makoto.

As silly as it was, Sousuke took a deep breath before he left his bedroom. He walked into the living room without announcing himself, and there, he found Makoto sitting on the edge of his sofa bed, furiously kicking his feet like a little kid excited to go out and play.

"...What are you doing?"

"Ah!" Makoto made a pathetic squeaking sound and nearly jumped out of his skin. "I didn't hear you walk in! Which is unusual, since you're so heavy."

"Rude."

"I-I didn't mean—"

"I was kidding. I am, in fact, very heavy." Sousuke focused on Makoto's face. The tips of his ears were bright red. "But you didn't answer my question. What's with the kicking?"

Makoto turned a darker shade of red, one that spread to his cheeks.

"I was warming up my legs!"

"...What?"

"I-I don't want them to stop working! It took me so long just to figure out how to use them."

He looked sad, now, making Sousuke feel just a little bit guilty. _That's not how exercise works_ , he thought. He decided he wouldn't say that and settled on some friendly advice instead.

"If it worries you that much, you can learn some proper atretches," he suggested. Makoto looked thoughtfully at his toes, wiggling them. "...Anyway. I tried to think of stuff to show you that you haven't seen before. Have you ever gone bowling?"

Makoto tiled his head to one side. _Again_. It was such a frequent habit of his.

"Bowling?"

"Yeah, bowling. It's a game. You go to this special, uh, arena kind of thing, and you roll a heavy ball on the floor to try and knock down pins." Sousuke had never realized how boring bowling sounded when described aloud. Makoto, however, nodded.

"That sounds like fun! Will we take the bus?"

"Nah, we can walk from here. I was gonna make us breakfast, if you wanna go get dressed."

Makoto nodded, again, before making his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Sousuke finally allowed himself to breathe and tried to wiggle all the nervous energy out of his arms.

Bowling.

It was just bowling.

He could do this.

 

* * *

 

Rin paced his hotel room as his cell phone rang. It was a conversation that he needed to finish before Haru finished getting his massage. He stopped walking when he heard the click that signaled that he'd gotten an answer.

_"Hello? Rin?"_

"Hi, Rei!" Rin shouted, relieved to hear his voice. He heard Rei chuckle.

_"That **is** my name. What was it you wanted to discuss so seriously?"_

"When did you start calling Nagisa your husband instead of your boyfriend?"

Rei didn't respond right away. Rin was sure that he'd raised his eyebrows.

_"...Rin, what are you thinking about...? ...Well, um. It was a few years ago. Why do you ask?"_

"I just wondered why you decided to do that. I mean, same-sex marriage wasn't even legal, so it's not like you had a certificate or a ceremony—"

 _"We had a ceremony,"_ Rei corrected. _"I mean, it was at a lake and no one else was there, but we had our own 'ceremony'. ...Nagisa used a mosquito net as a veil. We were on a camping trip."_

Rin paused to laugh.

"Right. Sorry. But, really— why call him that? Especially if the law didn't recognize it."

Rei inhaled a long, contemplative breath.

_"I did it out of respect for him."_

"Respect?"

_"Yes. While we didn't let it bother us that we weren't legally married, I noticed that people don't take the word 'boyfriend' very seriously. And 'partner' gave me a strange feeling... It felt too **polite**._

_"So... I discussed it with him. We both realized that we'd assumed we'd always be together. We'd already made it so long, after all. Most people who find themselves in such a position get married. I wasn't about to let the fact that I couldn't have a license bar me from acknowledging the position that he held in my life. We have a license now, but nothing's changed."_ Rin nodded along. It was funny— Rei was actually quite the romantic, but he used such flat, technical words that it had taken him a long time to notice that about him. _"Does that answer your question?"_

Rin nodded, feeling braver somehow.

"Yeah. Thanks, Rei. I gotta go— Haru will be back soon."

He moved to hang up.

_"Rin?"_

He stopped.

"Yeah?"

_"Promise me— no, promise **yourself** that you'll do whatever feels right for you. Don't overthink it."_

A click.

Rei had hung up.

 

* * *

 

Makoto decided that he liked bowling.

He'd performed terribly. Sousuke wasn't amazing at it either, but he said that wasn't important. The bowling alley was lively and colorful, full of music and lights, and Makoto got to wear special bowling shoes. He liked the food and snacks, and he liked the arcade games (even though he wasn't very good at them, either). He couldn't stop smiling as he walked beside Sousuke, who led the way back to the bus stop.

Or _was_ , anyway— he stopped rather abruptly and turned to face a store.

"Did you need to purchase something?"

"You like animals, right?"

"I do, but I don't see what one thing has to do with the other."

Sousuke smirked and pushed open the door.

"Come on."

Makoto followed despite his confusion, and then he understood.

It was a store full of animals.

There were rabbits, and hamsters, and small birds, and more, and all of the supplies needed to care for them.

"It looks like any normal pet store, but these animals are actually from rescues, mostly. They don't advertise that outright. People have this idea that the ones from breeders and stores are better," Sousuke explained, casually petting a rabbit.

Makoto hummed. He was happy to hear it. Haruka had explained to him what animal rescues and shelters were, and while it had upset him to know that there were people out there who would abuse or abandon their animals, he'd been happy to hear that there were rescuers as well. Maybe he would be one someday.

"I didn't know hamsters could get so big," Makoto observed. Sousuke chuckled.

"Those are Guinea pigs. They're supposed to be that big."

"Oh. S-sorry. I've been focusing so much on learning language and technical things that I haven't had time to learn much about animals or food..."

Sousuke waved it off. It was alright. Makoto didn't have to learn _everything_ overnight.

Eventually, Makoto found a perch where an enormous and colorful bird sat. He obeyed the sign attached to the perch and gently scratched the bird's neck, watching as it cooed and let its eyes close.

"Never seen a parrot here before," Sousuke observed. He stepped closer to it. "Pretty bird?" he said. Makoto laughed.

"You _are_ a pretty bird," he agreed.

" _Pretty bird!_ " the parrot squawked.

Makoto, who apparently hadn't yet learned that parrots were capable of mimicking clear human speech, _screamed_.

Sousuke tried to suppress his laughter as he apologized to the cashier and guided Makoto out of the store.

_One thing at a time, I suppose._

 

* * *

 

Day two.

Sousuke didn't feel as nervous this time, even if he didn't have anything planned. He rapped his knuckles against his door to announce himself so that he wouldn't scare Makoto again.

He found him at the stove instead of in his bed. He stood in his pajamas and read carefully from a recipe card. Pancakes— that was like baking, right? Makoto couldn't over-season them, anyway. Sousuke took a seat at the counter.

"Why are you making breakfast?"

"You did it yesterday."

"I do it every day."

"Exactly!" Makoto suddenly sounded very defensive, promoting Sousuke to raise his hands in surrender.

He quickly got fidgety. Sousuke wasn't very accustomed to relaxing. Makoto noticed it and laughed under his breath.

"You don't have to do something every day," he insisted. "We should just relax and watch TV. Maybe you can tell me more about baseball?" Sousuke groaned. _Relax?_ He didn't know the meaning of the word.

Makoto set an enormous stack of fluffy pancakes down and turned to get utensils as well as the syrup and butter. Sousuke took the opportunity to pinch a piece off of a pancake and try it.

"They're good," he mumbled.

He decided not to worry about sugar for just one morning and enjoyed a stack of pancakes after drenching them in syrup.

An hour passed. Just as Sousuke had given up on finding something good to watch, he caught a piece of an "up next" promo. He stopped surfing through channels and decided to wait it out.

"Why do I make you so nervous?"

Sousuke jumped. Makoto had been so quiet that he'd almost forgotten he was still there.

"You noticed?" he asked, feeling rather ashamed. Makoto nodded slowly.

"Rin said so, too."

_Dammit, Rin._

"If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't gonna say anything. Since you haven't technically done anything wrong."

Makoto frowned.

"And why should that make me feel any better? I want you to like me. We have fun together, don't we?"

"I— I don't dislike you! Really! I just..."

"You just what?"

"I... I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"No."

Makoto squinted at him, and then he pulled himself closer. Only slightly, but enough that Sousuke inadvertently tried to move away, only to find that he had run out of couch.

"I think you do know," Makoto said, half pleasing and half accusing. "You can just be honest. I promise I won't get upset!"

Sousuke huffed. Makoto wasn't planning to drop it anytime soon.

"I... don't know if I should trust you or not," Sousuke admitted, staring at the coffee table. "Your personality, I mean. You saved Haru and I, so I know you're a good person. Selfless. But you've gotta have some kind of dark side, or some kind of ulterior motive, right? I just... don't wanna get blindsided by it."

Sousuke barely managed to force out the last sentence, and he did so glumly. Makoto laughed like Sousuke had said something silly.

"Everyone has negative traits. You don't always have to be so suspicious. How are you supposed to make new friends if you're thinking things like that from the start?"

"...I don't, generally."

Makoto looked strangely at him, and then he chuckled, his face settling into a strangely fond smile— the way a parent smiled at a troublesome child.

"Well, maybe it's time to change that."

Sousuke wasn't sure what he was supposed to say to that. It almost sounded like a challenge. He sighed, feeling no choice but to accept his words.

Maybe some people simply _were_ angels.

He was saved, just then, by the fact that the show he'd wanted to see was now starting. He made a pleased sound that got Makoto's attention, and he fixed his eyes on the screen. Makoto grinned.

"I like the theme song very much!"

Makoto clapped. Sousuke wasn't sure why. He tried not to smile, resulting in what must have looked like a twitch of his mouth.

"Rin and I used to watch this. Because it was like an anime made for English speakers. There were a few of those back then."

"I can tell by the style of the eyes," Makoto agreed, nodding thoughtfully.

They made it through only about ten minutes of the show before Sousuke could no longer contain his laughter. He'd been sneaking glances back and forth between Makoto and the TV, and he seemed to have noticed something that had left him in hysterics. Makoto paused the show and turned to him, indignant.

"What's so funny?!"

" _You talk like Starfire_ ," he sputtered, pointing at the screen, where said young alien girl tried to get the attention of her grouchy teammate. "And Haru is Raven."

"I— I don't sound anything like her!" Makoto insisted. His voice wasn't _that_ high-pitched, was it? Sousuke waved a dismissive arm as he tried to control his breathing.

"Not your _voice_. The things you say."

"Explain!"

Sousuke looked up to recall an exact incident. He smirked when he remembered something good. His smirk was a terribly mischievous one, Makoto noticed. It was probably the heavy slant of his brow. No, it definitely was. The man was almost incapable of an innocent smile.

"...Remember the other day, when you wanted to make a sandwich?"

"What about it?"

"You asked me if we had any more of the 'sweet, creamy spread of ground nuts'."

"I-I didn't remember what it was called!"

"It's called peanut butter, Makoto. _Peanut_. _Butter_." Sousuke was _giggling_ now. It was a bit jarring to see in someone so large and imposing.

Makoto looked up at the ceiling suddenly.

"...Is Mr. Planter a peanut? The man on the jar."

Sousuke stopped laughing. _Mr. Planter isn't a MAN, is he? I mean, I guess he is MALE, but..._

"Wha— yes. Mr. Planter is a peanut. They take them out of those shells before they—"

"Okay, but why would a peanut advertise peanut butter? Wouldn't he be advocating for the destruction of his own people?"

Sousuke fell into a fit of laughter again, one that crept up on him slowly as he processed the question.

It took him too long to realize that Makoto was being completely serious.

 

* * *

 

Rin let out a long, contented sigh as he settled back into the tub. It was a spacious jacuzzi tub, one he and Haru got all to themselves, with more than enough room for two. It was one of the many perks of the resort— Rin had scraped together every spare penny for months, now, just to afford these few days.

Haru climbed in carefully. His face always settled into a smile as soon as he was submerged in water. He didn't have to live in it anymore, but he constantly craved it. If he could, he'd probably spend all day floating aimlessly in a pool.

"Comfortable?" Haru asked. He tried to sound casual. Rin detected his teasing tone and pulled him forward.

"I'd be more comfortable if you came and sat over here," he purred. Haruka offered little resistance and settled into his lap. Rin wrapped his arms around the front of him, trying to ease the tension out of the muscles of Haru's abdomen while kissing the back of his neck. He wasn't exactly a trained masseuse, but Haru hummed and leaned into the touch anyway.

Rin's movements suddenly stopped. Haru waited for him to continue. When he didn't, Haru took it upon himself to turn around, remaining seated on his lap. He gently slapped at the side of Rin's face. Rin seemed to visibly snap out his trance and shook his head. He squeezed Haru's hips affectionately, apologetically.

"Oh— sorry, Haru. I got distracted. I was just thinking about Sousuke."

Haru frowned and quirked an eyebrow.

"...Is there something you want to tell me?"

Rin's head shot backwards, nearly hitting the porcelain.

"Wha— _God_ , no, not like that! _Gross!_ The guy's like my brother!"

"Your timing is more than a little strange," Haru teased. Rin shuddered. "Besides, he's good-looking."

Rin stiffened and glared at him.

"Is there something _you_ wanna tell _me?!_ "

Haru laughed, breathily, and planted a quick kiss on Rin's nose, one that immediately disarmed him.

"No, of course not. But why him all of a sudden?" Rin studied Haru for a moment, and then he shrugged.

"I don't know... I just got a strange feeling. I just hope he's doing alright. Makoto's fine, I'm not worried about him. But Sousuke's... He's a goof. He's not great at the whole emotional honesty thing. You know that."

Haru laughed, recalling the awkward ways in which Sousuke tried to express his affections without betraying any softness in his heart. Sousuke was, in truth, an enormous teddy bear wrapped in barbed wire. But Haru also knew that Makoto, for all his external softness, had awfully thick skin.

If anyone could pry away at that prickly exterior of his and get away unscathed, it would be Makoto.

"...Yeah," Haru agreed. "I do." He placed gentle kisses on Rin's cheeks, and then one on his lips. "Don't worry so much about him, okay? You'd be depriving him of his job."

Rin laughed at that, and he settled back against the side of the tub, letting Haru's weight fall more comfortably atop him. Haru practically collapsed into him, crashing kisses against him rather suddenly. Rin chuckled into his lips.

For now, he could postpone his worries. He had other things to concern himself with.

 

* * *

 

Day three.

Makoto wasn't terribly familiar with alcohol in general, and he hadn't had much of it besides the wine that Gorou had sometimes served with dinner.

So when Sousuke proposed the idea of taking him out for a "victory drink" as a thanks for rescuing him all those months ago, he was caught off guard. And, admittedly, he was flustered, as it sounded a bit like a date.

"A karaoke bar? What's that?"

Makoto had heard of bars, and he'd heard of karaoke, but he didn't understand what a mesh of the two would look like. Sousuke toyed with a strand of his own hair as he thought. Makoto observed it, noting that the under-hairs near Sousuke's neck and ears were so dark that they looked black.

"Uh, well, Rin and I used to go to this one place all the time. It's not as loud and crazy as other bars, since it's _technically_ a restaurant, and the food's decent and cheap. Karaoke... Well, they have a stage and a mic and a song setlist, and on Saturday nights they host competitions."

"What kind of competitions?"

"Singing, of course. But it's not the kind of drunken embarrassment you'd see at a regular karaoke bar. Usually the performers are pretty decent and booked in advance, and at the end of the night, somebody wins a hundred bucks and a ribbon and gets their photo put on the wall. Some people have won, like, thirty times."

Makoto thought about it for a moment, and then he smiled. It sounded quite nice, actually. Sousuke was essentially offering to treat him to dinner, drinks, and a good show to boot.

"That sounds just lovely, Sousuke, but how will we get home if we'll both be legally intoxicated?"

Sousuke snickered. _Legally intoxicated_. Makoto's words were almost never _wrong_ , they were just oddly technical.

"The word would be _drunk_ , Makoto. And I can just schedule a ride for us ahead of time. Don't worry— I'll get you home safe."

He winked. Makoto flinched. He wanted to tell Sousuke to stop doing that— to stop being so casually flirtatious, whether he meant to do it or not— but, well, he also didn't want to. The attention was nice.

"Alright," Makoto agreed. Sousuke perked up. "It sounds like fun. I should warn you, though, that I have little tolerance for alcohol."

"Mine's pretty high," Sousuke replied, half-bragging. "I'm usually the designated driver or whatever. Or just in charge of getting everyone a taxi, or into a bus. Sometimes I'm the only one capable of clear speech."   
  
"O-oh. I guess we'll be fine, then," Makoto mumbled.

He watched as Sousuke made his way into his own bedroom. As always, he had to wait for him to finish changing if he wanted to ask for his own clothes, and as always, Sousuke sheepishly apologized for making him wait.

"It'll be nice when you get your own place," he grumbled. "Sharing half of a room is kind of weird, right? Not that you bug me or anything. ...Y'know."

Makoto eventually showered and got dressed, trying to look a bit nicer than he usually did. His jeans were a bit too tight for his own liking. Haruka had forced them on him, telling him they would "come in handy". (He wasn't sure what that meant.) Sousuke, to Makoto's delight, owned a leather jacket and wore it over a fitted black t-shirt. He'd correctly guessed, over a week ago, that Sousuke probably had a jacket like that somewhere.

The bar wasn't a simple walk away, like the bowling alley had been, and so they took the bus. The sun was still up in the sky, even if it was just barely, but Sousuke promised that was fine— the karaoke contest was never held late in the night, as they wanted people to be able to compete and still make it to work the next day.

"Besides, you've never been to a bar. I don't know if you're ready for clubbing at one in the morning," Sousuke laughed. Makoto felt strangely embarrassed by his lack of human experiences.

"It doesn't sound like fun, honestly," Makoto admitted. "Drinking so much that you do things you regret, and just for a headache the next morning? ...Maybe I just don't understand—"

"No, no, I'm the same way," Sousuke agreed. "Especially because you're supposed to dance, and I don't even like dancing, and the music is so loud you can't hear yourself think. I'd rather have coffee and a newspaper."

"...Are you _sure_ you're not an old man?"

"Oh, shut up. I get enough of that from Rin."

Makoto giggled at Sousuke's grumpy response, and then he spent the rest of the bus ride looking eagerly out the window.

Sousuke apparently hadn't lied when he said that he and Rin used to frequent the place. Several waitresses and a bartender recognized him and asked where Rin was, or where he'd been lately, as they hadn't seen him in a long time. He'd usually explain that he and Rin had been too busy with their careers to go out on the weekends. Makoto was introduced to people several times before they'd even gotten assigned to a table.

After a few minutes of waiting, a waitress gave them a table number. Sousuke explained that there was a menu for ordering food, and that the bar served drinks that could be enjoyed there or at the table. There was a small dance floor at one end, but the music was quiet enough that the other patrons could have conversations. One could send drinks to another table if they wanted, or hang at the bar and chat with people, or dance together. The tables and the bar were arranged around the stage in such a way that everyone could see the performers.

It was a nice setup, one that encouraged socialization and worked for dates as well as it worked for outings with friends. Table 14— their table— was set right in the center of the floor, equidistant from the bar and the dance floor and directly in front of the stage. Makoto couldn't help but feel excited.

After perusing the menu, Makoto couldn't decide what to order. Sousuke swore he wasn't terribly hungry, and so they ordered some kind of appetizer special to share. Baskets and baskets of appetizers and dips were arranged on the table, so many that Makoto could hardly decide on what to try first. After trying everything, he decided that he was partial to mozzarella sticks, while Sousuke liked a bit of kick to his food and favored the Jalapeño poppers. Makoto, unable to handle them, let Sousuke have the whole basket of those along with the buffalo wings, while Sousuke let him have all of the waffle fries. They split the egg rolls.

"I've never even heard of most of these," Makoto admitted, sheepishly, as he looked through the menu of alcoholic beverages. Most of them had long names and pretty colors. "I've only had wine and canned beer."

"Which hardly has any alcohol in it. You like fruit punch, right? I'd try this one," Sousuke said, pointing at some kind of fruit-flavored cocktail. "It's sweet, and not too high in terms of alcoholic content. Drink slowly, though. Don't let all the sugar fool you."

Makoto trusted that Sousuke knew what he was talking about. He nodded.

"That sounds good. I'll try that."

"Alright." Sousuke stood, and Makoto raised his eyebrows. "Oh— I have to order the drinks at the bar. And then I gotta use the bathroom. Don't run off anywhere, okay?"

Makoto nodded again, watching as Sousuke made his way to the bar. He chatted with the bartender for a minute before he went in another direction and disappeared into some kind of back hallway, likely where the bathrooms were. Makoto glanced at his watch. There was still plenty of time before the performances started. He decided he'd satisfy his curiosity and have a look at the contest's logbook, where one could have a look at the scheduled performers, sign up to sing something themselves, or simply go over the available songs.

He asked a waitress for the book, and she gave it to him within a couple of minutes. His drink (and Sousuke's) arrived moments later. It was so sweet that he didn't pay as much attention to Sousuke's warning about drinking it slowly as he probably should have.

He was only alone at his table with the book for about six minutes before the girls started to appear.

 

* * *

 

Sousuke growled under his breath and tapped his foot as he waited. Why was the line to use the restroom so long? What the hell were people doing in there? He didn't like the idea of leaving Makoto waiting for twenty minutes, wondering where he was, but it seemed like he'd have no other choice.

By the time he got to the bathroom, he felt like he was about to explode. He elbowed past a group of men in his desperation to relieve himself. Unfortunately, even after he'd finished, the line to the sink was stalled by people standing around and chatting. Eventually, he barked at everyone to get out of his way. He was thankful, at times like this, for his size. When he told people to move, they listened.

He was drying his hands when he heard a familiar voice.

"...Sousuke? Sousuke Yamazaki? Is that you?"

Sousuke stiffened.

"Kisumi?!"

Sousuke grit his teeth as he saw the figure making his way towards him far too quickly. It was, sure enough, the pink-haired devil. He threw an arm around Sousuke, making him cringe and look around to make sure he wasn't being looked at strangely.

"How often do you accost people in the men's bathroom?" Sousuke barked. Kisumi began to open his mouth to respond. "Actually, you know what? Don't answer that."

"You know me too well," Kisumi laughed. "But I won't try anything. Promise. Really."

He winked. Sousuke rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure you won't. What did you want?"

Kisumi feigned offense, putting a hand over his heart.

"Is that any way to greet a friend?! Why so grouchy? I just wanted to say hello. What have you been up to? I haven't seen you since Pride last year. How's Rin's new boo?"

_No one actually says "boo", Kisumi._

"I've been busy," Sousuke replied. "Haven't exactly been partying every weekend. Haru's fine, Rin's fine, everyone's fine. Now, can you get off of me? People are staring."

Kisumi pouted, but removed his arm from Sousuke's shoulder. He snapped his fingers.

" _Haru_. _That's_ his name. I'd forgotten. He's real pretty, that one. Those _eyes—_ "

"Yeah, sure," Sousuke retorted. He was only half-listening and was already making his way for the door. "Anyway, I'll talk to you later. I've gotta get back to Makoto. He's probably freaking out."

"...Tachibana?" Kisumi said, curious. Sousuke froze. "I thought I saw him out there earlier, but I didn't think he'd go to a karaoke bar by himself. He's with _you?_ You're lucky, bro."

Sousuke suddenly felt very on edge. What, exactly, had Makoto been up to in the months before he'd found the apartment? What could he have possibly done to lead him to _Kisumi?_

"How the hell do you know Makoto?!" he demanded. Kisumi laughed.

"Relax, Sou! I've met him a few times through a, uh, friend of mine. We'll call it job training."

Sousuke narrowed his eyes.

"...What the hell have you been teaching him...?"

"Nothing bad, I swear! Trust me! I wouldn't corrupt him!" Kisumi's mischievous smile didn't make Sousuke feel inclined to believe him. "He just wants to have plenty of career options before him, so my friend invited me over to help explain to him what we do for a living. ...My friend, of course, being Gorou. He's a coworker. We've known each other a while."

Sousuke frowned. He suddenly felt like the world was shrinking again. Was everyone he knew connected in some way?

"And what exactly are the two of you training him for?"

Kisumi winked ( _again—_ Sousuke had never met anyone who winked as often as Kisumi Shigino) and shook his head.

" _Ohhhh, no—_ we'll leave that a surprise, yeah? 'Sides, Mako might decide he wants to do something else, so there's no point in getting your hopes up."

Sousuke groaned. It was clear that Kisumi was determined to stay tight-lipped about this, and that he wasn't going to get anything more from him. He offered a half-hearted wave as he pushed his way out of the bathroom, and he heard Kisumi laughing. He'd have to ask Makoto about it.

He'd calmed down by the time he got back to the sitting area, but felt his temper flare up again when he saw the scene that waited at his table.

"What the hell is all this?! How many— Makoto, do you even know what's in those?!"

The various women gathered around Makoto, and around table 14, froze when they heard Sousuke's shout. A few of them looked amused and giggled while whispering to each other. Sousuke couldn't guess what they found so funny. Makoto had a couple of empty glasses before him, and he was sipping from a third with a bendy straw.

"Sousuke! There you are!" Makoto called out, a little too loud. His face was, very slightly, pink. How long had Sousuke been gone, anyway? "Everything's fine. The nice ladies got me some more drinks while I was waiting!"

Makoto turned and gave one of the women a look and a vague gesture that Sousuke couldn't see. She didn't seem to understand for a moment. When she did, she reddened and covered her mouth, but didn't look upset.

"Sorry to bother your friend," she said strangely, patting a very grateful-looking Makoto on the shoulder. "We'll be going now. Have fun, you two!"

She left, taking her friends with her, all of them laughing. Sousuke sat down rather angrily and made sure that Makoto could still pay attention.

"You do realize that they had ulterior motives, right? How much have you had to drink?"

"That second one was just water," Makoto insisted. "Trisha said it helps to have a glass of water between drinks. What took you so long?"

Sousuke blinked, watching suspiciously as the women returned to their tables. Had they been trying to get Makoto drunk? Could they somehow not tell that he didn't really understand what was happening? When he looked back to Makoto, he looked mostly okay, if a bit more red-faced and openly friendly than he had been before. It seemed that he really was a lightweight.

"Sorry about that. There was a long line to the restroom, and I ran into somebody. ...I meant to ask you about that. He says he knows you."

"Hmm? Who knows me?"

"Kisumi. Kisumi Shigino? Pink hair. Can't miss him."

"Oh, Kisumi! Yes, I do know him. Through Gorou. He's... assisting me with something. I don't really want to talk about it yet. Do _you_ know him from somewhere?"

"He was Nagisa's roommate in college, used to hit on me all the time. That's not important, though. ... _Makoto_." Sousuke's voice lowered, sending a shiver down Makoto's spine, and he leaned in. "He's not teaching you anything inappropriate or illegal, is he?"

Makoto turned bright red and waved both of his arms in furious denial.

"No, no! Nothing like that! He's been perfectly honest, really! Why are you so distrusting of him?!"

Sousuke stared for a moment longer with those narrowed eyes, and after he'd determined that Makoto wasn't lying, he leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed.

"...Okay. I believe you. ...Maybe he's shaped up a bit since college."

A part of Sousuke had always suspected, deep down, that Kisumi was more bark than he was bite— that his flirtatious and suggestive nature was more of a running joke than anything else. And maybe that hunch was correct. Maybe Kisumi wasn't so bad. If he was really as promiscuous and as shady as he implied that he was, it was unlikely that Rei would keep him in his circle of friends.

 _Maybe I really should stop being so suspicious_ , Sousuke thought. It was something he would never say out loud.

Before he could say anything else, the waitress returned with two more drinks. Sousuke started to say something about not having ordered any, and the waitress cut him off.

"Oh, I'm aware, Mr. Yamazaki. These are from the ladies over at table seven."

"...One for each of us?"

"That's right!"

Sousuke warily eyed table seven— as he'd guessed, the same women who'd been glued to Makoto's side earlier. One of them winked at him, and another hid her laughter behind a napkin. He didn't understand what strategy they were trying to employ now (were they trying to seduce both of them?), but he wasn't about to refuse a free drink. He tipped his glass at them in thanks before clinking it against Makoto's, an action that made the man blush.

The waitress, before leaving, looked down at Makoto. Sousuke just then noticed the book on the table.

"Have you decided, then?" She asked sweetly. Makoto blushed further, but nodded and handed her the book and a pen. "Great! Since it's a bit late to be signing up, you'll have to go last."

"Wait, what?! He—" The waitress was gone before Sousuke could protest. He pulled Makoto's head down. "Don't tell me— you _entered?!_ "

"Yeah."

"We were just supposed to watch!"

"But it sounded like fun. Trisha said it would be fun."

"Who's this _Trisha?!_ " Sousuke asked, his voice strained. Makoto pointed, wordlessly, at the ringleader of the women from table seven. She offered an apologetic smile and a shrug. Sousuke sighed. "...Well, it's too late now. You're already signed up. Are you sure you're sober enough to— you know what? I'm cutting you off until _after_ you go on."

Makoto pouted as Sousuke took his glass away, but didn't argue. He got the waitress' attention and asked for another glass of water.

Sousuke continued to drink as the performances started. He hoped that if he was drunk, he could avoid feeling any secondhand embarrassment for Makoto. But he was, unfortunately, correct in saying that he had a high tolerance— several drinks in, and he felt almost nothing. He wondered if he should upgrade to hard liquor, but didn't want to end up with a hangover when he knew he had to work the next day.

As they'd been told, Makoto was scheduled to go up last. The table seven women loudly clapped and whistled and cheered when he was announced, and he took to the stage shyly, asking the DJ plenty of questions about the microphone and other things that Sousuke couldn't hear from his table. He was still pink in face, and now looked a bit wobbly in the knees. Sousuke couldn't be sure if it was the alcohol or nerves, but he _did_ notice that Makoto avoided looking at him.

The DJ announced the song. Sousuke raised an eyebrow. It wasn't the kind of music he would have thought Makoto listened to. He watched as Makoto steadied himself, closing his eyes and taking a long, deep breath.

He crossed his fingers, hoping it wouldn't be too big of an embarrassment.

 

* * *

 

It was dark outside of the apartment building.

Rin hadn't checked his watch in some time, but he was certain that it was past midnight. As Sousuke was apparently a grouchy old man, he'd normally be in bed by now. But he had texted Rin, promising he would wait up for him, when Rin had warned that he and Haru were stuck in traffic.

Sousuke always kept his promises. Rin knew that he was awake, and if he was awake, Makoto surely was as well. Rin paused with a hand on the keys in his pocket and gulped. He was afraid of what he would find inside. Haru startled him by patting his shoulder.

"They're fine," he promised. "Even if Sousuke still distrusts Makoto, he's not so childish that he would start a fight about it. They're probably just watching TV."

Rin inhaled a deep breath of air, willing his muscles to relax.

"Yeah," he huffed. "Yeah, you're probably right."

He put his key into the lock and turned it.

_No big deal, right?_

"Sousuke! Makoto! We're ba—"

Rin choked on his words and froze in the doorway, instinctively putting an arm out to bar Haru from entering.

Rin could see that both Makoto and Sousuke were seated on the couch. That wasn't unusual. He had expected it.

What he _hadn't_ expected was to hear the sound of Sousuke Yamazaki laughing. _Really_ laughing. So hard that it had to hurt. So hard that he had doubled over and nearly fallen off of the couch.

Makoto, meanwhile, had half-buried himself in the cushions and covered his bright red face with his hands. Two controllers sat on the floor, and on the TV screen, two go-karts wheeled uselessly into walls or off the edge of the tracks as their competitors zoomed effortlessly past them.

Haru, unable to contain his curiosity, ducked under Rin's arm and made his way inside.

"...Makoto? Are you okay? What happened?"

Makoto fell sideways onto a pillow. He didn't uncover his face.

"It was an accident! I didn't knowwww!"

"You didn't know _what?!_ " Sousuke stopped laughing just long enough to choke out a couple of sentences. "You fucking blue-shelled me!"

Makoto threw the pillow at him and shimmied over to Haruka's side.

"D-don't say it like that! I didn't know it did that!"

Rin closed the apartment door, finally, and stormed over to Sousuke's side.

"What the hell happened here?! Are you alright, Makoto? Sousuke, what's the matter with you?!"

"Ask him!" Sousuke snickered, gesturing at Makoto. Makoto wailed.

It took at least ten minutes to calm both men enough that they could explain what had happened.

"Sousuke taught me how the game works," Makoto began. "Since it was just the two of us racing, I thought that all of those turtle shells did the same thing. And then we decided to play online with other people, and I thought we would work together to beat everybody else, b-but... But I accidentally used the blue shell when Sousuke was in first place! I-I cost him his victory! And all I meant to do was hit the player in front of me!"

Makoto sounded _so genuinely upset_. Rin had to admit that it was cute. Sousuke was laughing again.

"I just got hit all of a sudden, and I jumped up, like, 'who the fuck did that?!' And _my god_ , the look on his face— you'd think he'd accidentally butchered my entire family or something!"

"B-because you sounded so angry! I said I was sorry—"

"Makoto," Rin scolded, trying not to laugh. "You don't have to apologize. There are no friends in Mariokart. Everybody knows that."

"It's true," Haru agreed.

Makoto slowly peeked out from behind his fingers.

"...Really?" he squeaked.

"Really," Sousuke echoed. "I was just teasing you."

Makoto took a moment to process the information. Once he had, he grinned, rather uncertainly, and pointed at Sousuke, his hand shaking.

"Th-then... Ha! I got you!"

Sousuke burst out laughing yet again. Rin and Haru exchanged a concerned glance. Haru took the break in conversation as an excuse to steal Makoto away and sit him down on the island in the kitchen. He immediately began doing tests to try and determine his level of sobriety. It occurred to Rin just then that Makoto's speech was slurred. ...Perhaps that explained why Sousuke was so uncharacteristically giggly.

Rin sat in front of Sousuke, on the coffee table, and forced the larger man to look at him.

"Sou— hey. Look at me. Sousuke, are you drunk?"

Sousuke let out a burst of air, something like a scoff.

"Nah. Nope. 'M just buzzed. ...And tired. ...And I may or may not have had some more of Makoto's cookies."

Rin sighed. He'd thought he smelled something sweet. They must have already done the dishes.

"Dude, you have to work tomorrow morning! How did this happen?!"

"We went to the karaoke bar," Makoto sang. "Some nice ladies got us looooots of drinks. The fruity ones!"

Rin raised an eyebrow at Sousuke.

"For both of you?" Sousuke shrugged. Rin dismissed his curiosity about that particular detail. "When he says karaoke, does he mean the place we used to go?"

"Mm-hmm."

"S-so you took him _out on the town_ , then."

"We went bowling!" Makoto added. Haru was having difficulty getting him to focus.

"Th-that's great, Makoto," Rin called before turning back to Sousuke. "You're going to bars together, you're going bowling, you're playing video games... Does this mean you two are friends now? _Really_ friends?"

Rin saw Haru pause as he awaited the answer. Sousuke thought for a moment, and then he grinned.

"... _Hell_ yeah!"

Makoto whooped in agreement, nearly toppling off of the counter in the process. Rin was beginning to wonder how he'd been able to play Mariokart. On that note, how had they even gotten home?

"Y-you're friends? You are?! That's... That's good. That's great! You trust him now?"

"Of course I do," Sousuke snorted. "Dunno what I was so worried about. Makoto's great."

"Oh, stop that," Makoto giggled. Haru was supporting most of his weight. Sousuke waved Makoto off.

"No, really! He's pretty good at Mariokart, n' he makes great pancakes, and, and, dude. _Dude_. He can sing!"

Rin chuckled.

"I don't know if you heard, Sousuke, but almost literally everyone can sing."

Sousuke shook his head.

"No, I mean he can really sing. Like a friggin' rockstar or some shit. Didn't you see his ribbon?!"

Rin peered over the back of the couch at Makoto. Sure enough, he was wearing a familiar gold ribbon, one that he'd pinned to his shirt. He patted it and flashed a proud smile.

"I won a hundred whole dollars!"

"W-wait, you _won?!_ As in, everyone voted for you?!"

" _I told you_ ," Sousuke said, clicking his tongue.

Haru congratulated Makoto and promised him they'd go to the bank to deposit his winning the next day, and then he hoisted Makoto off of the counter, using an arm to support him. He glared at Sousuke.

"I'm putting him in your bed. He needs to sleep this off. YOU take the couch."

He hobbled into the bedroom before Sousuke could protest. But, then, he had no protests in mind. He didn't have anything to hide, and he changed his bedsheets at least three times a week— Makoto would get a comfortable sleep on a clean bed in there. He fell back into the couch cushions, smiling to himself. Rin sat down beside him.

"...Sounds like you guys had a good time. I'm glad. We were worried, y'know."

"Nah, man, it was great," Sousuke insisted. "I mean... God, I'm such a dick sometimes. He's sweet, and he's funny, and his cookies are like—"

" _Sousuke_." Rin's tone was oddly serious. When Sousuke looked at him, he was studying him with his arms crossed.

"Mm?"

"...Do you have a man-crush on Makoto?"

Sousuke stopped, looking like a child who'd been caught with his hand in a cookie jar (an oddly appropriate expression). He seemed to think on the question for a moment.

"...No! ...Yes. Maybe...? Probably, yeah." Rin fell into a fit of giggles that he tried, not very successfully, to stifle. Sousuke scoffed. "A little man-crush now and then never hurt anybody, Rin."

"No, you're right! There's nothing wrong with it! It's just, uh... It's just funny, you know? You didn't even wanna be alone with the guy three days ago."

Sousuke shrugged.

"Well, maybe I've gotta start givin' people a chance again. It's... been a while."

Rin stared at him for a moment. When he'd gotten to the apartment, he'd planned on asking him something— a serious question. But now, he didn't want to upset him. At the moment, Sousuke seemed calm. Unusually so. His eyelids fluttered like he could hardly keep them open. Rin smiled, and then he stood, patting Sousuke once on the shoulder.

"...You should get to bed. It's way past your old man bedtime."

Sousuke snorted.

"Yeah, whatever. Shut up."

Rin chuckled. He looked once more at his friend as he stood in the doorway of his own room. He could see, just inside, that Haruka had already turned in.

"...Night, Sousuke."

"Yeah, g'night."

Rin left.

Sousuke was alone in the living room, and he was far too tired to set up the sofa bed proper. He also didn't want to wake Makoto by going into his own room for his pajamas. He opted to sleep in his boxers, throwing his pile of clothing on his armchair, before he found Makoto's stack of blankets. He didn't plan on making a coccoon, so he took only one and curled up into it. The sofa wasn't terribly comfortable, but it wasn't bad, either.

As he drifted off, Sousuke took a last deep breath. It brought a faint scent to him, and he realized, just then, that the blankets smelled like Makoto. Which made sense— he was the only one who used them.

Makoto smelled like vanilla and fabric softener.

It was a gentle scent, one that aided him as he slowly fell more and more deeply asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fitting everything that I needed to into this one was a bitch, man. But I'm glad it worked out! A lot of this Fic is more slice-of-life cute fluff than the last one, now that we've removed the mythological element for the most part. Plus, I get to play with Makoto's worldly ignorance, which is fun.
> 
> Anyway, Makoto. Singing. Now, this is technically canon: Makoto really can sing. Both his English and Japanese voice actors are the lead singers of rock bands: Suzuki Tastuhisa of OLDCODEX (which does both of the opening themes of the anime), and Johnny Young Bosch of Eyeshine. I like to imagine, then, that Makoto's CANON canon voice (for this fic, anyway) is a combination of their respective singing voices. Which, coincidentally, sounds exactly like Rise Against. Tim McIlrath has Tatsuhisa's power and range and Bosch's overall tone and raspiness, making him a perfect in-between! So if you wanna imagine all of this more clearly, I'd recommend listening to "Dried Up Youthful Flame" for OLDCODEX, "Alone" or "Here Comes the End Again" for Eyeshine, and "Injection" or "Good Left Undone" for Rise Against. For my silly headcanon foreshadowing purposes, I've decided that Makoto's karaoke performance was "Good Left Undone". And he was spot-on. ;)


	3. The Gang's All Here

Makoto ran through the halls of his apartment building. As he was too excited to wait for the elevator, he took the stairs, jumping up two of them at a time. He fumbled with his keys and impatiently thrust them into the lock.

He burst into the apartment with the intention of loudly proclaiming his good news, but what he found there gave him pause.

Makoto looked around the slightly cramped living room, both looking and feeling baffled. The TV was on a Japanese baseball station, there was sushi on the counter, Rin was eating rice and pork out of a bowl with a pair of chopsticks, and Sousuke was commenting on the game in effortless and casual Japanese.

"Is... Is this still Australia?" Makoto managed to ask. "Did I step through a portal somewhere...?"

Rin jumped up and looked over the back of the couch. He crouched back down as quickly as he'd appeared and nudged Sousuke.

" _The bubble has been burst. I repeat, the bubble has been—_ "

" _I can hear, Rin,_ " Sousuke replied. He switched to English as he looked at Makoto. "Whaddya need, Makoto?"

Sousuke's eyes were focused on him. Makoto took it as permission to share what was on his mind. He held up an envelope.

"S-So I went to the bank, and I checked my mail, and... Guess what?! I got approved!"

"Approved?" Rin echoed. "Approved for what?"

"My lease! The empty apartment across the hall, remember?"

"O-Oh, yeah. That." Sousuke smiled. It looked a bit forced. "So... You've got your own place?"

Makoto reddened.

"N-Not yet. Not quite. We still have to finalize things. I'm actually about to go meet with the landlord. He said that I should get the keys in about a week!"

Makoto grinned, looking awfully proud of himself. Rin flashed his shark teeth back at him.

"That's great! We'll have to go out and celebrate sometime soon."

"We will," Makoto agreed. "Where's Haru? I want to tell him before I take off."

"He's in the tub," Sousuke answered.

Makoto nodded his thanks before he took off and threw the bathroom door open, just barely bothering to knock. "In the tub", when referring to Haru, meant that he was sitting idly in the water with his swim trunks on. Rin nudged Sousuke as soon as Makoto was out of earshot.

"What's with you?" Rin asked.

"I don't know what you mean," Sousuke flatly replied.

Makoto ran past them just then, back out of the apartment, and threw a casual wave over his shoulder. Haru appeared moments later, still in only his swim trunks, and moved to put his apron on. Sousuke clicked his tongue at him.

"Don't you go dripping water all over the floors again—"

"I dried myself off," Haru retorted. As Sousuke had expected, Haru started to grill himself some filets of mackerel.

Rin waited another thirty seconds before he punched Sousuke in his side.

"Cough it up! What's with you?!"

"I don't know—"

"Save it!" Rin crossed his arms. "He had good news that he was happy about, and you were all weird about it."

"I wasn't weird."

"You were! Normally you'd have picked him up or something."

Sousuke scoffed.

"I don't pick him up very often, _thank you_. Don't wanna throw my back out."

"Are you calling Makoto fat?" Haru asked, smirking. Sousuke ignored him and shrugged awkwardly.

"...I mean, I don't know," he grumbled. "Am I supposed to be happy that he's moving out? It's been kind of fun living together. ...Besides, who's gonna do all the laundry with him gone?"

"I told you that I don't mind doing it," Haru replied. "I'll just ask him what kind of fabric softener he's been using."

Rin chuckled and patted his larger friend's shoulder.

"It'll be right across the hall. And I'm sure he'll still spend plenty of time here. Or you can just go over there. ...See? It's no big deal."

"...I... guess not."

Haru finished grilling his fish and sat at the counter to eat it. Rin eyed his bare back. Did he think he was subtle? Actually, why _had_ it taken so long for Haru to notice Rin's affection toward him? Sousuke would never understand. Haru took a bite a bite of his food before speaking.

"Are you still going to the gym with him?"

"Yep." Sousuke leaned back on the couch. "He doesn't need my help much anymore. I still can't figure out what the hell he's been training for."

"Does he use weird equipment or something?" Rin asked, frowning suspiciously.

"He's addicted to the stairclimber. He carries weights when he's using it, too."

"...He wanted to carry me up and down the stairs the other day," Haru mumbled.

"Did he? Mako said something like that to me, too, but we decided that I'm too heavy for something like—"

"Wait. Who's _Mako?_ " Rin grinned. Sousuke furrowed his brow at him.

"...The hell do you mean? Mako. Makoto. You know... Tachibana? The person we've been talking about all this time?"

"I _know_ that," Rin laughed, "but where did that little nickname come from?"

Sousuke looked up as he thought, realizing he'd never called Makoto by any nickname in front of the others, and then he looked strangely embarrassed.

"...Oh. Uh, well, we call Haruka _Haru_. Seems like we just cut the last syllable off if your name is longer than two syllables. ...I dunno, it just happened."

"Makoto calls him _Sou_ ," Haru added from the counter. Sousuke shot him a glare.

"Only sometimes!"

"When?" Rin was giggling at something as he asked. Sousuke redirected his glare at him.

"Usually when he wants something," Sousuke answered. "Guy's a real kiss-ass sometimes. Don't let him fool you. Sometimes—"

"Wait, _wait_ ," Rin interjected, gesturing at Sousuke to stop talking. Sousuke was clearly annoyed at constantly being interrupted. "...He calls you _Sou_ to _butter you up?!_ "

"Yeah," Sousuke grunted with a casual shrug.

"And it _works?!_ "

"I—" Sousuke turned slightly red. "I didn't say that!"

" _It works_."

"Nobody asked you, Haru!"

"He's got you wrapped around his finger, that one." Haru chuckled and took a sip of his drink. He really enjoyed teasing Sousuke about this particular subject.

The two of them continued to bicker. Rin would have joined in on the teasing, but was instead distracted by a message on his phone. He lit up as soon as he read it.

"It's about time," he said to himself as he typed a response.

"...What's going on?" Sousuke asked. Rin smiled, wide and happy and victorious.

"Rei and Nagisa are finally free. They're open for tomorrow afternoon and Thursday evening."

"Thursday?" Sousuke repeated. "That's when the carnival's in town, right?"

Rin pumped his fists.

"It is! We can all go together! Makoto probably hasn't been to one of those before, right?!"

"He hasn't," Haru confirmed. "It's on his list. ...I helped him make a sort of bucket list of things he wants to do by this time next year."

"We'll have to help him finish it," Rin replied, nodding. "Anyway. Nagisa wants to go to the beach tomorrow. He sounds really excited about meeting Makoto."

"Yeah, well, he's probably heard good things from Haru. ...Wait, does he have a swimsuit yet?" Sousuke couldn't remember if they'd gotten one for him or not.

"I got one for him," Haru said casually. "I'll text him about the plans. I'm sure that Gorou won't mind Makoto taking a couple of afternoons off."

Haruka sent a long text, and then he finished his food and put his dishes in the sink. Rin turned the volume back up on the TV and retrieved his bowl of pork and rice. He took a single bite, and then he frowned.

"It's cold now," he grumbled as he stood. "I gotta go reheat this."

Sousuke was left alone on the sofa, and just then, he felt his phone buzz. He pulled it out and glanced at the screen.

_Mako: Sou? You there?_

Sousuke snickered.

_Sou: Yeah, what is it?_

There was a long pause before Makoto sent another text.

_Mako: ...What's a carnival?_

 

* * *

 

Rin grumbled as soon as he saw the beach. It was far more crowded than he would have liked. He kept his complaints to himself, though, when he caught sight of Nagisa and Rei.

"Guys! We'll be there in a minute!"

Rin waved to them. The couple had reserved a spot, one where they'd spread out blankets and a big umbrella and a cooler. Makoto smiled at the sight of them, even if he did so nervously. Sousuke gently slapped his shoulder as he hosted their beach bag out of the car.

"Don't worry about them. They'll like you."

Makoto bit his lip. He thought he'd been subtle.

Haru reached the blanket first. Nagisa pounced on him, earning an indignant huff.

"Haru-chaaaaan," he whined, "we haven't had a girls' night in forever!"

"It's only been a month. Don't be so dramatic."

"Girls' night...?" Makoto squinted in confusion. Nagisa nodded and smiled cheekily.

"It's just a movie night," Haru explained. He smiled somewhat slyly. "You can come to the next one."

Makoto blinked. He still didn't quite understand. He wasn't a girl. Nagisa offered no explanations, but _did_ offer his hand. Rei moved to stand beside him.

They both looked... almost overwhelmed with happiness. Haruka had said that he'd told both of them the truth. The truth about how Haru had first escaped the ocean. Maybe that was why they looked so strangely emotional.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Nagisa sang. Makoto tentatively shook his hand. Nagisa had a surprisingly vice-like grip for such a small person.

"I concur," Rei added. His handshake was polite and professional. A mischievous twinkle appeared behind his glasses. "Are you the same as Haruka...? I wonder about that. I'll have to run some tests on you later."

Rei grinned. Makoto recoiled in fear.

"Wh-What kinds of tests?!"

" _Rei_ ," Sousuke's voice warned. "Don't go scaring him so early. ...Ignore him, Makoto. He just means that he wants to know how long you can hold your breath underwater. That kind of thing."

"AND I would like to see your powers in action," Rei further clarified. Makoto laughed sheepishly.

"M-Maybe someday. I'm not very good at it."

Haru and Rin sat on the blankets together to help each other apply sunscreen. Rei swapped his glasses out for some kind of goggles, and Sousuke fetched a beer from Rei's cooler. All the while, Nagisa circled Makoto, studying him. Sousuke stood, beer in hand, and stared at him.

"...What are you doing, Nagisa?"

Nagisa stopped, standing at attention before the two of them. He thoughtfully stroked his chin.

"He's almost as tall as you are!"

Sousuke shrugged.

"Probably." He turned to Makoto. "Did you ever get properly measured?"

Makoto nodded. He subconsciously made sure that he was standing up straight.

"Yes. I'm six feet and one inch tall."

Sousuke smirked as he opened his can.

"Got you beat by an inch, then. I'm six-foot-two."

"That's so weird," Rin realized aloud. He finished coating Haru in sunscreen and gave him permission to go to the water. "I'm exactly one inch taller than Haru is."

"I've figured it out!" Nagisa suddenly declared.

"Figured what out?!" Rei squawked, jumping at the increase in volume.

Nagisa giggled, and then he pointed towards the men standing in front of him.

"Sou-chan kind of looks like an evil version of Mako-chan."

" _Chan?_ " Makoto mumbled. Rei tried, tried valiantly, not to laugh. Rin didn't bother to hide his teasing laughter.

"Evil?" Sousuke repeated, frowning.

"Well," Rei said through a laugh, "You're similar in height and build, but have reverse features. For instance, you both have eyes that droop downwards, but Makoto's eyebrows have a naturally happy slant, while your brow is low and makes you look angry."

"But it suits you," Makoto insisted. Sousuke only scoffed, took a swig from his can, and set it down to strip off his t-shirt. Nagisa whistled. Rei shot him a warning glare.

"You oughta settle down with the weights already, _Schwarzenegger_ ," Rei mocked. "At this rate, you really won't be able to find clothes that fit."

Rei made a very good point. Sousuke somehow seemed bigger every time he took his top off, and Makoto knew for a fact that he didn't neglect his legs.

"Actually, since when do you wear board shorts?" Nagisa observed. "Your athletic suit doesn't fit you anymore, does it?!"

Sousuke groaned. He was glad that Rin had left to join Haru in the water. He was always looking for excuses to complain about Sousuke's growth. Makoto, thankfully, seemed to sense his discomfort and changed the subject.

"S-So do you two plan to swim?"

Nagisa nodded.

"Yep! We both swam on teams when we were younger, too, like Sou-chan and Rin-chan. ...Rei-chan can only swim butterfly, though."

"STILL?!" Sousuke snorted. He'd grabbed the bottle of sunscreen and was in the process of applying it to his arms. Rei waved him off, indignant.

"One stroke is sufficient!"

"I could teach you the backstroke," Makoto offered. "Gorou and I used to swim laps in the ocean near his house to stay in shape. He showed me lots of techniques, but I like the backstroke best."

"Why's that?" Sousuke asked. He slapped his own cheeks. Makoto didn't know why so many people did that while putting on sunscreen. He shrugged.

"It's the one I seem to be the best at. And the sky is pretty."

After a pause, Sousuke smiled wryly and glanced at Nagisa.

"...See what I mean?"

Nagisa nodded and patted Makoto's head. He had to jump to do so.

"Such a cutie-pie! We'll get along just fine, Mako-chan!"

"Could somebody help me with my back? Rin ran off somewhere."

Nagisa, without missing a beat, grabbed the bottle of sunscreen from Sousuke and threw it at Makoto. He'd caught if before he could catch on or refuse.

"How nice of you to volunteer, Mako-chan!"

Nagisa winked. Makoto suddenly understood what Haruka had meant when he described the man as devious.

 

* * *

 

"Just hold still, and you'll be alright."

"Quit kicking me!"

Sousuke and Makoto had very different approaches to keeping Rei calm. The man struggled against them as they tried to hold him still. He kicked and floundered pathetically. Rin, like a shark, suddenly rose from the water beside him.

"It's just a backfloat, Rei. Our bodies float like that naturally. You won't sink if you just relax."

Rei grumbled under his breath, but he _did_ stop thrashing. Makoto released a long sigh of relief.

"Great, Rei-chan! Great!" Nagisa splashed water around. Sousuke snickered.

"Who the hell calls their husband 'chan'?"

"Husband...? Makoto repeated the word to himself. Nagisa threw an arm around his shoulder and let Sousuke handle Rei by himself for a moment.

"Yep! We went and got our license the day the ruling passed. We had to wait in line for a long time, but it was totally worth it!" He flashed a thumbs-up. Sousuke grinned down at Rei.

"The pictures are hilarious."

Rei started thrashing again.

"Sh— _Shut up!_ "

"I SAW those!" Rin agreed. "Nagisa's got little subtle happy tears and Rei's bawling like a big ol' baby—"

"I told you to shut up!" Rei escaped Sousuke's grasp just enough to shove Rin's head underwater.

Rin resurfaced with another person beside him. Everyone screamed.

"Haru!" Rin yanked him closer. "How long were you under there?!"

Haru shrugged, stone-faced as ever.

"Only ten minutes."

Rin pulled Haru away to lecture him, for the tenth time, about how long normal humans could hold their breath. Sousuke, having retrieved Rei, exchanged a glance with Makoto, who shrugged.

They shared a laugh.

 

* * *

 

Rei learned the basics of the backstroke. Makoto, feeling a bit chilly, left the water with the hopes of bathing in the sunlight. Sousuke followed him in search of snacks.

"Hey!" A voice Makoto didn't recognize called out to him. He turned and saw several men standing around a volleyball net. "You two wanna play some ball? It's shirts versus skins. We could use some big guys!"

Makoto turned to Sousuke. He'd wandered to their spot, rummaged through the cooler, and returned to Makoto's side with a stick of beef jerky that he was already halfway through eating. Sousuke nodded, and Makoto waved to the men.

"Sure, we'll play!" He ran to the water's edge. "Haru, Rin, Nagisa, Rei— Sousuke and I are going to play volleyball for a while, okay?"

Rin turned to flash an _okay_ symbol, nearly letting Haru topple from his shoulders in the process, before returning his attention to the game of chicken that was already in progress.

Sousuke had finished his jerky and joined the group of men when Makoto jogged to his side. They were all laughing about something.

"How do people usually pronounce it?" A short red-head asked. Sousuke snorted.

"The most common one is _Sou-suki_. I've also gotten _Sao-sook_ and a bunch of others I can't remember. It's S-O-U-S-U-K-E."

"And who's your friend?" A tall man with a buzz-cut asked. Makoto flinched, blushing slightly.

"U-Uh, my name is Makoto," he answered. "M-A-K-O-T-O. But just _Mako_ is fine."

Everybody repeated the names to make sure their pronunciation was correct. Then, a blonde clapped, getting everyone's attention. He was apparently the leader.

"Okay, then, it's time to divide up teams! We'll flip to see who gets Sousuke and who gets Makoto—"

"Don't we wanna be on the same team?" Sousuke asked, glancing at Makoto. Makoto smiled innocently, but shook his head.

"No."

"No? ...Why not?"

"Because..." Makoto's smile turned wicked. "I'm going to destroy you."

Sousuke reeled back in genuine shock. The other men laughed or clapped. Their leader slapped Makoto on the back.

"Forget the coin flip— this guy's mine!"

The teams divided themselves up. Makoto lined up with Sousuke, watching him through the net. Sousuke grinned.

"So you actually think you can beat me?" He asked, taunting. Makoto nodded.

"Oh, I know I can. I play with Gorou and Kisumi, and I should warn you— I'm pretty good."

Sousuke couldn't help but laugh. He'd never seen this competitive side of Makoto before, but he was far too gentle to be a real threat, right?

The ball was tossed into the air, in Makoto's direction. With a loud grunt, he struck it with all his might. Sousuke wasn't nearly fast enough to stop it. He looked up, from his place in the sand, to see Makoto smiling angelically down at him, as if he hadn't done anything.

Makoto wasn't kidding. Sousuke knew he was in for a world of hurt.

 

* * *

 

"I cannot _believe_ you."

Sousuke lay on his back, on a large towel, under a darkening sky. He could barely feel the heat of the bonfire. Makoto chuckled, somewhat sheepishly, and laid a washcloth on his forehead.

"I did warn you," he said sweetly. "Don't be so dramatic. You can go cool off in the water."

"I'm too tired to make it over there," Sousuke groaned.

Nagisa giggled at the exchange. He handed Haru a completed s'more.

"D'you want a s'more, Sou-chan?"

"No! Who the hell eats s'mores on a beach?!"

"Well, if there's a fire..." Rin said, shrugging. "I could get you a popsicle instead. Do you want a popsicle?"

Sousuke didn't reply at first.

"...Yeah," he muttered. Rin laughed as he went to the cooler to grab his friend a chilled snack.

"I wouldn't have pegged you for such a sore loser," Haru teased. Sousuke huffed and sat up, letting the little towel fall from his forehead.

"I'm not a sore loser! I just don't understand why Makoto would try to KILL ME."

"I wasn't trying to kill you!" Makoto insisted, laughing. "What can I say? You bring out my competitive side."

He smiled, and suddenly, Sousuke didn't want to be mad anymore. He grumbled under his breath as he took a bite of his popsicle.

"Uh..." Rei squinted at him. He'd toweled off and switched his goggles back out for his glasses. "...I think you're supposed to lick those, not bite them."

"Don't tell me how to live my life." He took another bite. Rin sighed.

After a few more minutes of friendly banter, Rei pulled out his phone. He seemed to be double-checking something.

"Well... the carnival is Thursday evening, right? Is everyone still free for that?"

"You bet!" Rin cheered. "I'm gonna drag these three with me no matter what."

"Oh, you don't have to drag me," Makoto interjected. "I'm quite excited! I've never been to a carnival before. Sousuke told me there's rides and food and games with prizes!"

"That about sums it up!" Nagisa chirped. "The games are hard to win because they're usually rigged against you, but it's more about the fun of trying anyway. Actually, getting a prize feels like winning the lottery sometimes! I'm good at the games where you knock stuff over."

"I like cotton candy," Haru said thoughtfully. "It's so easy to eat. It's like a sugar fluff that melts on your tongue."

"Really?!" Makoto was fascinated. He'd definitely have to try some cotton candy. He was grateful to have friends who explained things to him so clearly and patiently. He was learning more and more every day.

Soon, they wouldn't have to help him so much. He was sure of it.

 

* * *

 

"See? It's nice, isn't it?" Makoto asked the question carefully, turning to look at Haruka.

They stood together in the empty apartment that Makoto would soon call his home. The landlord had given him the code to unlock the door and permission to scope the place out, likely as a thanks for his patience during the long and arduous paperwork process.

The layout was remarkably similar to that of the apartment they all lived in. It was a near-perfect mirror image, with windows along the back wall and a small kitchenette and two doors leading to spare rooms, another leading to the bathroom across from them. Makoto had a good idea of how to lay out furniture, seeing as he had a good model right across the hall.

Haru didn't look at much of anything. Not just disinterest. This was outright avoidance.

"It's okay."

Haru's voice was even more monotone than it usually was. His expression was forlorn and distant. Makoto paused, his smile fading.

"...What's wrong, Haru? Do you not like it?" He had a feeling that he knew what Haru would say before he said it. That sort of thing was to be expected with people who had known one another as long as they had.

"It's not that." Haru looked at the carpet and nervously fidgeted. "...I'm just... going to miss living together. We were apart for so long, and even underwater, we never got to spend this much time together. Having you in the apartment... It's been like having a family."

Makoto flinched, reflexively, at the mention of family. He saw Haruka mentally scold himself. He gently touched Haru's shoulder.

"It's right across the hall," he reminded him. "And you're welcome here whenever you want to be here. It doesn't even matter what time it is. Treat it like an extension of your own home."

Haru contemplated Makoto's words for a long moment. When he looked up, something flickered behind his eyes. He smiled. His smiles were almost always very small— only the slightest twitch at the corners of his lips.

"...The same applies to you. Don't forget that."

They held the gaze for a moment. Makoto broke it by pulling his friend in for a hug. Haru would normally try to escape or complain about it, but this time, he let his head rest against Makoto's chest and said nothing. He could hear his friend's heartbeat. Steady and strong and constant, like Makoto himself.

There was a time when they both would have been more prideful— when they both would have feigned normalcy and brushed the problem off. But after everything they'd gone through together in the past couple of years, they couldn't do things like that anymore. Between the two of them, there was room only for honesty when it came to how they felt about one another. Haruka was the most significant person in Makoto's life, and he always had been, and he understood now that this was nothing to be ashamed of. So he held his friend tight and didn't think about how silly it might seem to other people. He didn't care if they were too old for this sort of thing, or if it was embarrassing. None of that mattered.

Makoto moved away from Haru after a short while. The soothing smile returned to his face. He understood Haru's fears, and the reason that this was so hard on him, but he meant what he said and had no intention of letting it come between them. He hoped this was apparent in his smile.

"Now, then..." He put his hands on his hips and surveyed the apartment. "You get to help me decide where I should put all of my furniture."

Haru stared at him, uncertain, for only a moment before he smirked. It hadn't taken him long to return to his usual self. Outwardly, anyway.

"As soon as you _get_ furniture, that is."

He laughed, but Makoto didn't miss the uneasy note that tainted it.

 

* * *

 

Makoto's reaction to his first glimpse of the carnival was to press his face into the car window. Sousuke, from his place behind the driver's wheel, chuckled at him.

"What's the tall ride?!" Makoto asked. He heard Rin's laughter behind him. He and Haru sat together in the back seat. Rin likely had an arm around Haru.

"That's a ferris wheel," Rin answered. "Just wait until it gets a little darker. All the rides light up."

"Do they?!"

"They certainly do," Sousuke confirmed. He seemed to be trying to conceal his smile. "I got wristbands ahead of time, so we can ride as many rides as we want. There are usually lines, though."

"We made sure to get plenty of cash, too. Play as many games as you want. It's on us," Rin added.

Makoto held a hand to his own heart.

"You— You guys didn't have to do that!"

"You still have to worry about buying furniture and all that," Sousuke replied dismissively. "We can cover the fun stuff for a while."

Makoto smiled. He had such kind friends. Even if some of them wouldn't admit it. Sousuke always, without fail, had an excuse.

The car was parked in a grassy lot across the street from the carnival. The event itself was set up on a big, sprawling boardwalk. The sun was hanging low in the sky, and would soon threaten the edge of the water. Makoto felt his heart flutter as he stood before the ticket gate. He'd never seen so many people.

Crowds were still a new and frightening thing for him. There seemed to be so many humans. Merfolk were far fewer in number, and not as densely populated, and on top of that, Makoto had spend most of his life in the castle. He'd only ever kept the company of nobility, and the largest groups of people he'd ever seen had been at private upper-class parties. To see dozens and dozens of people packed so closely together, moving in rapid lines and a chorus of chattering and stomping feet, still tied his stomach in nervous knots.

"You'll be alright," Haru whispered, sensing his discomfort and grabbing his elbow. Sousuke was showing the man behind the ticket window their wristbands. "Most of the people here are focused on doing what they want to do. They'll barely even notice you."

Makoto nodded, swallowing thickly. Sure, there were a lot of people, but Sousuke and Rin wouldn't let anything happen to him. Sousuke was big enough to use as a shield, anyway. He tried not to focus on the group of girls eying him to his left, and soon enough, they were allowed entrance to the ground and left the giggling women behind.

Makoto wasn't dense— he was well aware that human women seemed to find him very attractive. But he wasn't attracted to women, and he didn't yet know how he was supposed to react. Was there a polite way to let someone down? He'd never had this problem as a prince, when people had been afraid to so much as look him in the eye...

Makoto shook the unimportant thoughts from his head as he spotted a familiar duo. Rei and Nagisa waited together on a bench. Nagisa was already scarfing down handfuls from an enormous plastic bag of popcorn. He waved as soon as he saw the group approaching, sending a few stray pieces of popcorn in Rei's direction.

"Haru-chan!"

"He's always so happy to see you," Rin laughed. He bumped Rei's fist with his own as a greeting.

"Sometimes I think that he likes Haruka more than he likes me," Rei groaned. It seemed that he was only half-joking. Within seconds, Nagisa's arms were wrapped around him like a vice.

"Rei-chan! You know that isn't true!"

He tried to give his husband a kiss. Rei shoved his face away.

"There are people looking!"

"Leave him alone, Nagisa. We have to decide what we're all doing first," Sousuke chastised. Nagisa released Rei from his constrictor's grip and beamed at Makoto.

"We'll do whatever Mako-chan wants to, of course. Anything caught your eye?"

All eyes focused on Makoto, who felt his face flush. He wasn't used to being put so directly on the spot.

"Th-The ferris wheel," he answered. "I've never been up so high! I'd normally be scared, but if we're all together, I'm sure it will be okay."

He smiled. Sousuke grumbled something unintelligible under his breath. Usually, when he did that, he was saying something like _how are you even a real person?_ , or something equally silly.

"Sounds like a plan," Rin said, nodding. He extended a hand to help both Nagisa and Rei stand up from the bench. Nagisa linked an arm with one of Makoto's and took off in the direction of the ferris wheel, dragging Makoto along with him like a hostage. Rei ran after them, shouting something about tripping or bumping into people.

Sousuke didn't react at first. He turned, stunned, to look at Rin. Rin grinned.

"Well," he said with a shrug, "at least we know they both like him."

With that, the remaining trio took off to catch their friends.

 

* * *

 

Makoto quickly decided that he liked carnivals, and he felt bad about pretending to have known what they were before. Sousuke had grilled him about his reasons for including something on the bucket list he'd made with Haru if he didn't even know what it was, and Makoto had admitted to only understanding about two-thirds of the things Haru had suggested. Haru didn't fault him for it, though. He just laughed and said he'd explain everything better next time.

After the ferris wheel, Makoto tried the carousel, then a really tall slide, and then the bumper cars (Rin and Sousuke got _way_ too competitive with one another), and then a variety of spinny rides. He posed with the whole group squeezed together in front of a backdrop and had commemorative photos taken. He sampled cotton candy and caramel-flavored popcorn, and before long, the sun had set.

Makoto had also decided that he liked Nagisa and Rei. He'd decided that shortly after meeting them at the beach, really, but this trip had solidified things. Nagisa was bubbly and excitable and fun, and Rei was smart and surprisingly sweet when he let his guard down a little bit. Nagisa had a way of making him seem calmer, and Rei kept him reigned in. They were a good balance. Makoto would be more than happy to add them to his new circle of friends. He hoped that they both felt the same way about him.

"What should we do next?" Makoto asked idly. Everyone had been letting him choose, and he didn't want to restrict their fun in any way. Sousuke, ever the reliable one, pulled a folded-up map out of his pocket and studied it. Makoto leaned in to look over his shoulder.

"Almost all of the rides you haven't tried yet are the 'scary ones'," Sousuke explained. "There's the tower drop, which is exactly what it sounds like, and there's the pirate ship, which just swings back and forth really fast. The graviton is fun, too, but it can make you feel kind of sick. Besides that, there's..." Sousuke's voice trailed off. He looked around and squinted. "...Where did they go?"

When he heard the question, Makoto turned.

Rin and Haru were gone. Nagisa and Rei, too. He opened his mouth to respond, and just then his phone made a bell-like sound. He pulled it from his pocket.

_Haru: Sorry for ditching without saying anything. Rin wanted to show me something, and Nagisa dragged Rei somewhere. We can see more things if we split up.  
Haru: Tell Sousuke to behave himself. Rin said that, btw._

"...Apparently, they couldn't agree on where to go next and ran off by themselves in pairs," Makoto answered, holding up his phone. Sousuke raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"That's fine. It usually happens at some point when you go somewhere in a big group." Sousuke looked around to get an idea of where they really were, and then he glanced back at the map. He smirked. "Pretty sure I know where Rin dragged Haru." He tapped a particular spot. " _The tunnel of love_."

"T... Tunnel?" Makoto's brow lowered apprehensively. Sousuke snickered.

"I don't know what you're imagining, but it's just a slow river ride. Couples get in a boat together, and there's music and hearts everywhere. That kind of thing."

"...Oh."

"Anyway, what did you wanna do next?" Sousuke looked expectantly to Makoto, who just then heard a kid cheer upon winning a prize. He looked at the assortment of booths and smiled.

"I've yet to try any of the games! It would be just lovely if I won a prize, don't you think?!"

Sousuke snickered again, and as usual, Makoto didn't know what he found so funny.

"Sounds good to me."

Makoto stuck by Sousuke's side as they walked. He explained all of the different games. Makoto tried his hand at a few with little success, while Sousuke insisted that he was content to watch. He won a plastic mask at the fourth stand he tried, and he copied a woman he saw and put it on the side of his head.

A booth caught his eye. The players were given a brightly-colored plastic rifle and five tries to shoot the center of a moving target.

"Are you a good shot?" Sousuke asked through a laugh. "You've gotta hit three targets to get anything good."

Makoto contemplated this, then nodded and handed the stand's operator a dollar bill. He was handed the rifle in exchange.

Sousuke held his breath as he watched. Makoto didn't seem like he would be a good shot, but, then, he hadn't seemed like someone who could sing like a rock frontman or spike a volleyball with the force of a speeding train, either. Makoto breathed evenly and focused.

The buzzer announced the arrival of the moving targets. Makoto fired off a shot. He just barely missed. He pouted slightly.

"Hold your breath before you fire," Sousuke suggested. "It'll even out your shot."

Makoto nodded, not letting his eyes wander from the targets. Sousuke nervously eyed the clock that quickly counted down. Makoto fired. This time, his pellet struck the edge of one of the targets. His eyes lit up.

" _Now_ you've got it," Sousuke encouraged. He saw his friend slowly grin.

The third shot hit its mark. The fourth and fifth were dead-center. Makoto jumped victoriously up and down.

"Not bad," the operator hummed as he tallied up Makoto's score. He gestured at the wall of prizes. "You can take anything from the third row and the ones below it."

Makoto thoughtfully eyed the prizes. The bottom two rows held unimpressive trinkets and plastic toys. Row three was full of stuffed animals. They weren't very big, but Sousuke knew that Makoto had a soft spot for cute things and wouldn't mind it much.

Makoto made his choice and eagerly snatched up one of the soft toys. Sousuke raised an eyebrow at it. Without warning, Makoto shoved the prize into Sousuke. He reacted quickly enough to grab it.

"What are you—"

"It's for you!"

Makoto smiled. He looked strangely proud of himself.

"...Okay, but why..."

"Because it's you!"

Sousuke furrowed his brow and turned the object over in his hands, looking for some kind of resemblance. It was a whale shark.

"And why am I a whale shark, exactly?"

"Because." Makoto's smile became a teasing one. "They're really big, and since _shark_ is in the name, people think that they're scary. But, in reality, they're almost totally harmless."

He tilted his head. He was trying to look innocent. Sousuke forced a grin and felt his eyebrow twitching.

"...Oh? Totally harmless, huh?"

"Mm-hm."

"We'll see about that."

"I'm sure we will."

Sousuke clicked his tongue, but tucked the shark under his arm anyway. He caught sight of a game and heard a loud bell. He smirked.

"You've had your fun, now," he declared as he made his way towards the bell. "It's _my_ turn."

They reached the source of the noise. Makoto watched as a man pounded a mallet onto a little platform. The force of the impact made a needle rise. It nearly struck the top, but fell short. The man, out of breath, handed the mallet to the game operator and turned to the child beside him.

"Sorry, son," he huffed. "Looks like your old man isn't strong enough to get a prize."

It was an all-or-nothing game. If one failed to reach the top, they didn't get a prize. Ringing the bell allowed one to win a large stuffed animal. Makoto nudged Sousuke.

"I know you said it's your turn, but can I try it just once? I think I understand the goal."

Sousuke shrugged, slipping Makoto another dollar bill.

"Be my guest."

Makoto handed over the money and took the mallet, giving it a few test swings.

"Hey!" He called. The father and son pair, who had been in the process of departing, turned around. Makoto offered them his warmest smile. "I've never tried this before, but if I get a prize, you can have it. Does that sound okay?"

"But it'll be _your_ prize!" the child insisted, turning very slightly pink.

"Well, yes, but I'm a grown-up," Makoto replied. "I don't need a stuffed animal. It's no problem!"

The father smiled gratefully.

"He's a little shy, but he'd appreciate that."

The deal was settled. Makoto turned to the machine, lifted the mallet above his head, and brought it down with all his might. His shot was straight and true, and the bell chimed. The boy cheered and picked out a big stuffed bear.

"I hope you like it," Makoto said, patting the kid's head. He smiled.

"I love it. Thanks, mister!" He was blushing out of nervousness, but he managed the formalities anyway. Then he ran off, and his father laughed before following after him.

"Awfully nice of you," Sousuke commented as the mallet was handed over to him. "Let me make it up to ya."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see."

Sousuke clearly took too much pride in how hard he swung the mallet down. There was a deafening thud, and instead of chiming once, the bell rang continuously and a siren of some of some kind blared. The game operator pulled out a megaphone and got the attention of the surrounding crowd.

" _Ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves a Hercules!_ "

Another siren. Sousuke bowed in an exaggerated manner as people clapped and little kids cheered and screamed. Makoto looked at the operator, puzzled.

"What does _that_ mean?!"

"Well, sir..." He fished behind his stool and retrieved a medallion that he promptly draped around Sousuke's neck. "It means that he gets our special Medal of Honor and access to one of our deluxe prizes!"

The man pulled a blanket from a nearby table, revealing five _giant_ plushies. Each one was at least half the size of Makoto, and he was far from short. Sousuke nudges him.

"Go ahead. Pick one."

"Really?!"

"Yeah, sure. Y'gave me your shooting range prize, and you already got one for that kid. Seems like a fair trade."

Makoto looked back and forth between each plush a few times before he was able to make up his mind. He settled on an orca. It was heavy, and just as satisfyingly squishy as he had hoped it would be. He nuzzled his face against the soft, high-quality material as they walked away from the game's pen.

"This is a nice day," he murmured into the fabric.

Sousuke stared at him, pausing him his movements, for a moment before he smiled, softly, and looked away.

"Yeah," he agreed, quietly enough that no one else would hear him. "It is."

 

* * *

 

" _There you are_ , you ditching bastards."

Sousuke sped up his pace and caught Rin and Haru. They were standing by a pretzel stand. Rin had his wallet in his hands and was counting how much cash he had left. Satisfied with the amount, he shoved the wallet back into his pocket and offered Sousuke a casual half-wave.

"Sorry about that. I didn't think you'd wanna tag along on our little lover's quest."

Sousuke scrunched up his nose.

"You're not wrong about that, at least. Did you—"

" _Heeey, guys!_ "

Sousuke was interrupted by the shout. The quartet turned in the direction of the familiar voice. Nagisa, now adorned with various glow sticks, waved on arm. He had a giant penguin under the other. Rei had a plastic mask on, and one side of his face was painted with butterflies. The embarrassed look on his face suggested that it hadn't been his idea.

Nagisa reached the others first.

"Sorry for splitting on such short notice, but it looks like everything worked out! Everyone got to do what they wanted, right?"

Makoto nodded, proudly squeezing his orca. Nagisa marveled at the size of it.

"Certainly! We played lots of games. Sousuke won this for me. ...What about you, Haru?"

Haru's only response was to lift up a little plastic dolphin and squeeze it. It squeaked.

"I'll take that as dolphin for _yes_ ," Sousuke said, rolling his eyes. "Rin didn't win anything?"

Rin shrugged.

"They were all out of sharks."

"...I see."

Rin raised an eyebrow at Sousuke's whale shark and gave him a teasing smile. Sousuke very intentionally ignored him.

"Well," Rei said, gently taking Nagisa's penguin, "I can run everything back to the cars. After that, we've got enough time to get something to eat and then ride some more rides."

"That's a good idea!" Makoto handed over his orca and Sousuke's whale shark. Haru's dolphin was small enough that he elected to keep it in his pocket. "I've noticed that the lines for food are very long, so while you're off doing that, one of us should get in line while the rest of us claim a table."

"Sounds good," Haru agreed.

Rei was directions to Sousuke's parked car, as well as its keys, and he gave his food order in exchange. Sousuke collected money from everyone and trudged his way towards the front of the line while the others hurriedly seized the next open table for themselves.

They waited until everyone was reunited before they began eating. Makoto marveled at how much Nagisa could eat for such a small person. Haru had recommended that Makoto try a pretzel dog for his meal, and they split a funnel cake for dessert. Makoto found that he liked the funnel cake even more than the cotton candy. Sousuke refused to have any. He only glared at it, muttering something under his breath about a 'vile sugar-powdered temptress'. Having seen the man inhale an entire plate of cookies, Makoto felt like he understood his refusal.

Sousuke took everyone's trash to the nearest trash can, and then the group, now full and re-energized, let another group have their table.

"Soooo, what should we ride?" Nagisa asked. It took Makoto too long to realize that Nagisa was looking at him.

"Y-You're asking me?!"

"We explained this already!" Rin scoffed. "You're the only one who's never been to one of these, so you get to choose."

"Hmm..." Makoto looked around. The flashing neon lights made it hard to focus on any ride but the one that rose above the rest. "...We've... already ridden the ferris wheel..."

"You want to ride it again, huh?" Haru laughed softly. "That isn't strange. You're curious about how all those lights look from up high, right?"

Makoto's face flushed. Nagisa giggled and patted him on the back.

"It's a good idea, Mako-chan! How about we make that our finale?"

"And this time, we'll wait until we can all fit in one carriage," Rei added.

Makoto nodded, feeling his shyness fade. His friends were very good at making him feel more relaxed.

"...That pirate ship looks like fun," he suggested. The others looked to where he'd pointed and saw a 'ship' attached to a metal rod, swinging through the air. Rin grinned, nodding his approval. He gestured at the others and began to move towards it.

"Have you tried the tower of terror?" Nagisa asked, half-shouting as he struggled to keep up with Rin. Makoto shook his head.

"N-No! It's too scary!"

"I guess you _are_ new to rides, huh? Well, how about the roller coaster? If we start with a little one like that, you'll be riding the big ones in no time!"

"That's a little one?!"

"Totally! Compared to the ones at a real theme park, it's hardly—"

Nagisa jolted to an abrupt stop. Makoto barely avoided colliding with his back. Rin and Haru, up ahead, stopped and looked back to their friend.

"...Nagisa?"

"Where did Rei-chan go...?"

Nagisa looked around, turning in complete circles, but couldn't see past the crowds of people. Sousuke straightened his back out to stand at his full height, which allowed him to easily scan the area over the heads of most others.

"He's over there," Sousuke pointed, and Makoto followed the path of his finger with his eyes. Rei was standing right against the pier's edge, away from anyone else. Makoto couldn't see him well enough to tell what he was doing.

"I thought I'd heard his phone ring," Rin mumbled once he'd reached the group. "I thought he'd just press ignore, though. Must be a business thing?"

Nagisa squinted, looking unusually serious.

"I don't think so. That's what his beeper is for."

Then, without offering any further explanation, Nagisa surged forward, cutting his way through the crowd with his elbows. Sousuke quickly followed suit, allowing his remaining friends to cling to him and use the path he opened up. Nagisa jogged to Rei's side as soon as he had a clear view of him.

Finally, Makoto was able to properly spot him. He was leaning against the wooden fence, his cell phone pressed to his ear and his eyes wide. Makoto wasn't sure how to describe his expression. If he had to put it into words, he'd describe it as a tentative, almost fearful sort of hope.

"...Rei? Who are you talking to?" Nagisa asked as he reached his husband's side. Rei shook his head, gesturing at him to keep quiet. Nagisa frowned and wrapped himself around Rei's free arm.

Makoto and the others waited patiently. Makoto didn't know what was going on, but he could tell that it was a very important phone call. One that he wouldn't dare interrupt.

"That... That's wonderful," Rei said, his voice cracking. He looked lighter all of a sudden. "I... don't know when I'll be free next, but... I'll text you, alright? Th-That's okay, isn't it?"

Makoto raised an eyebrow at Sousuke, who seemed to intentionally ignore him. Rei had looked like he wanted to smile, but was afraid to. Makoto wanted to understand.

"Y-Yeah, I'll call you, then. ...See you, Hinata. I'm glad you called. ...Goodbye."

Nagisa recoiled in shock as Rei hung up his phone and stared at it. When he recovered, he tightened his grip on Rei's arm.

"...Hinata? Hinata called?!"

Rin's eyebrows shot up, and Sousuke whistled. Rei, still mesmerized by his phone screen, could only manage a slow and careful nod.

"What did he say?" Haru asked. Rei's eyes snapped up to meet his, and then he hastily stuffed his cell phone into his pocket.

"N-Not... Not much, if I'm being technical. But he wants us to talk again. ...Ne wants us to meet up soon, just the two of us."

Nagisa paused to take in the information, and then he grinned. It looked horribly forced. Makoto couldn't help but wince.

"That's great," Nagisa sang.

"I'm nervous, too, you know," Rei said under his breath. Nagisa allowed the poorly constructed mask of happiness to fall away, opting instead to hug Rei from the side.

"Who's Hinata?" Makoto asked. Rei blushed.

"O-Oh. I guess you wouldn't know, would you? You're still something of a newcomer." Rei put his hands in his pockets and smiled softly, like he was trying to look casual. "Hinata is my older brother. We haven't spoken in a long while."

"How long is a long while?"

"...About four years now, I think. Don't hold me to that number. It's an estimate."

Rei's smile seemed to flicker. Makoto furrowed his brow in concern.

"That _is_ a long while."

"It is," Nagisa murmured. Rei ruffled his hair.

"I'm afraid it's taken him a long time to begin moving forward with the rest of society," Rei explained vaguely. Makoto gave him a vacant stare. "...Which is to say, he doesn't approve of my relationship. He stopped speaking to me when Nagisa moved in to live with me."

"Wha— that's _terrible!_ "

"It hasn't been easy. Family gatherings have become unnecessarily complicated, since my parents didn't want to lose contact with either one of us."

"To drag the entire family into such a foolish thing..." Makoto crossed his arms and hummed dissaprovingly. Rei shrugged. The casual nature of it broke Makoto's heart— had he really become accustomed to such a thing?

"It is what it is," Rei sighed. "But... he called. He must want to reconcile."

After an awkward pause, Haru, Sousuke, and Nagisa offered their tentative congratulations. Rin remained silent. Or, rather, he did until Rei directed a questioning look in his direction.

"L-Listen, Rei," Rin began carefully. "Just... promise me you'll be careful. You don't owe Hinata anything. A-And unless he really means what he says, and offers you a proper apology, you aren't obligated to let him back into your life. Sometimes... Sometimes we cut toxic people out of our lives for a reason."

Sousuke looked at Rin with something in his eyes that Makoto hadn't seen before. Rin glanced at him and gestured with his hand. It was a flicker of movement, so brief that it was nearly invisible. The gesture said _don't ask me about it_. It also said _don't worry_. It was strange, the way those two could communicate while saying so little.

Rei, not seeing the wordless conversation, only nodded.

"I know what you mean, and I assure you that I won't be rushing headlong into any tearful reunions," he laughed. "I'm not so naive as to think that a single half-assed apology can fix the last four years."

"Alright, then," Rin said softly. "I'm... sure you know what you're doing."

Rin seemed to relax. Rei's tension slowly dissipated until he was able to laugh along with his husband, and then, almost as if nothing had ever happened, he looked towards the blinking lights of the carnival rides.

"I'm sorry, Makoto— I distracted us from our mission!" he exclaimed. "You wanted to ride the pirate ship, didn't you?"

"I did," Makoto confirmed.

Sousuke took this as permission to take the lead. Once again, he effortlessly cut his way through the crowd. Makoto slowed his pace, intentionally lingering near the back of the procession. He tapped Rei's forearm.

"No matter how things turn out, I'm glad," he said sweetly. "Progress, towards whatever kind of closure you may find, is always a good thing. Even if it's scary."

Rei blinked. After a moment, he smiled. This one was a wide smile, one with no hint of hesitation or fear.

"Thank you, Makoto. ...You're right."

 

* * *

 

Makoto screamed so loudly, while riding the pirate ship, that the children on board laughed the whole time. Several parents thanked him for putting on an act that dispelled the childrens' fears. Makoto sheepishly insisted that it was no big deal, far too embarrassed to admit that he hadn't been acting.

"You sure you're alright?" Sousuke asked for the fifth or sixth time. Makoto puffed out his cheeks.

"Of course I am! It was scary, yes, but it was fun anyway."

Makoto indignantly squeezed the small stuffed narwhal tucked under his elbow. The child he'd won a prize for earlier had run into him again, and this time, he'd managed to win a small prize of his own. He'd shyly given it to Makoto. His father had laughed as he explained that it was "Junior's way of saying thanks". Makoto had accepted it gladly, and he now clung to it as the line for the ferris wheel moved quickly forward.

Sousuke stepped forward in a rushed and jerking way. He'd been so busy studying Makoto's face that he hadn't noticed the line moving.

"You can't hold up the line, Sou-chan!" Nagisa scolded. "You're _way_ too big to do that!"

"Shut up."

Nagisa, as carefree as ever, only giggled.

The group had to let several others pass in front of them before they were finally able to get an empty carriage. Makoto felt mildly guilty about this, but Haru assured him that it was no big deal.

"Are you sure we're not too heavy?" Makoto nervously asked the ride operator when he was finally ushered into a seat. The man laughed.

"Of course not! The little guy balances you big guys out."

"You're welcome," Nagisa laughed.

"Quit worrying so much." Sousuke took the seat next to Makoto's and patted his knee. "These rides hardly ever break."

" _Hardly ever?!_ "

"...Shit."

Sousuke squeezed his eyes shut and mentally scolded himself.

The carriage creaked as the ride began slowly climbing into the sky. Makoto shrank into himself as if his plush narwhal would protect him.

"Ignore Sousuke," Haru said, shooting the man a glare. "He puts his foot in his mouth sometimes. ...Rides do break on rare occasions. Everything does. But we've been fine so far, right?"

Makoto released the breath he'd been holding.

"...You're right. I-I want to enjoy the view."

"And it's one hell of a view," Rin said excitedly. "All the people already look so small, and we're not even at the top yet."

Makoto risked a glance down. What he saw made the remainder of his anxiety flutter away.

There were hundreds of people below them. They were all a bunch of colorful dots, now, that shrank with every passing second. Makoto could head the dull roar of creaking rides and children happily shrieking. Against the velvety midnight blue of the evening sky, neon lights twinkled, casting a sharp but warm light over everything.

"It's beautiful," Makoto breathed, marveling at the way that all of the distant colors blurred together.

"Yeah," Sousuke chuckled. "It is."

There was near-silence, save for the murmured conversation between Haruka and Rin, for the next few minutes. As their carriage neared the very top of the wheel, Rin grinned.

"We're almost at the top," he sang, sounding mischevious. He threw an arm over Haruka's shoulder and pulled him close. Haru rolled his eyes, but the upward twist at the corner of his mouth betrayed him.

"Since you weren't in a carriage with us last time, Makoto, you probably down know," Rei said, "but it's something of a tradition for couples to kiss at the top of the ferris wheel."

"Oh?" Makoto's eyebrows raised. "Where does it come from?"

A long pause.

"N-No one really knows," Rei stammered, looking embarrassed.

Makoto chuckled. _You don't have to know **everything** , you know,_ he wanted to say.

"You can cover your eyes, Sou-chan," Nagisa teased. Sousuke scoffed.

"Yeah, I probably will."

The carriage creaked higher and higher at what seemed like a snail's pace. Makoto fidgeted as he wondered what he was supposed to do. Nagisa scooted closer to Rei, and Rin nuzzled his nose into Haru's cheek. He was trying to hide it, but Sousuke looked annoyed. How long had he been single, anyway?

At long last, the carriage groaned to a stop at the very top of the wheel. The view from here was clear and unobstructed, making the entire carnival grounds, far below them, look like a child's playset. Makoto couldn't help feeling a little dizzy. He'd never been up so high— he'd been too scared to look down from up here the first time.

In his formed life underwater, Makoto had spent his days in the flat plains of his home. The depths meant danger, and to go up was to death the surface. He'd always been commanded to stay where the ground was even. _Heights_... They were new to him. Thrilling, yes, but not quite scary.

Not when the others were with him.

Makoto looked back to the inside of the carriage when he heard Sousuke click his tongue in annoyance. As promised, he made a point to cover his eyes with his hands. Rin captured Haru's lips in his with little effort or concern for his surroundings. Rei seemed to be more stubborn about it, and kept glancing at Makoto. He relented when Makoto waved a casual hand.

Makoto looked over at Sousuke and found that his hands still covered his eyes. He looked across the carriage and briefly eyed the two separate pairs of lovers. He looked down, at the narwhal in his lap. Then he got an idea.

"Hey, Sou?"

Sousuke's shoulders tensed apprehensively.

"...What?"

"Can you move your hands?"

"Why?!"

"Just trust me, will you?"

Nagisa pulled away from his husband, clearly curious about what Makoto was up to. Rin didn't seem to notice. Sousuke groaned and barely lifted his hands enough to expose his eyes.

"What do you—"

Makoto attacked before Sousuke could catch on. He thrust the narwhal, face-first, against Sousuke's lips, making loud "kissy sounds" as he did so.

Nagisa was the first to react. He slapped at his own leg as he laughed and laughed. Rei only sighed and shook his head.

"Don't be such a baby, Sousuke," he pled. Sousuke had scooted away from Makoto and was now frowning and sputtering, bewildered, at the plush toy.

" _Ohhh_ ," Rin snickered once he'd turned to observe the commotion. "I— _Jesus_ , Makoto, I thought you'd actually kissed him!"

It was Makoto's turn to sputter.

"Wh-What?! No, I— I wouldn't do something like that without asking first!"

"Oh, come on," Rin teased, leaning across the carriage to slap Sousuke's knee. "Makoto just didn't want you feeling left out!"

Sousuke pondered that for a moment, and then, as the wheel finally began to move again, he allowed himself to laugh, shaking his head as he did so.

"Okay, okay," he relented. He gave the narwhal's horn a rough flick. "You got me."

The rest of the ride seemed to pass all too quickly, and before he knew it, Makoto's feet were planted on firm ground. All of the people around him suddenly seemed huge, and the size of the crowd was daunting once again. For the briefest of seconds, he felt a flicker of fear. And then Haru was beside him, a calm and peaceful smile on his face. Sousuke stood on his other side, trying to look grouchy and muttering about the slow-walking teenagers blocking his path.

Makoto smiled. The crowd seemed to melt away.

"You ready to head home now? It's getting late. See, the crowd's really thinned out." Rin gestured vaguely with one arm and seized Haru's elbow with the other. Behind them, Nagisa pulled Rei forward by his hand. Sousuke watched him, patiently waiting for an answer.

Makoto's smile widened into a cheesy sort of grin.

"Okay," he said. "Let's go home."

 

* * *

 

Makoto squeezed his fingers around what he held in his palm, constantly opening and closing his hand and observing the way that the light glinted off of the cool metal. His heart pounded. He wasn't sure why. It was no big deal, right?

All three of his former roommates had been working all day. Gorou and Kisumi had come over to help Makoto move the furniture he'd bought (or, in the case of his living room set, been given) into his brand new apartment. It still looked quite bare, but he had the essentials. Kisumi had been generous enough to buy him a fancy blender. "You're always making yourself those protein smoothies," he'd offered as his only reason.

Now, the apartment was empty. In terms of other people, anyway. He texted his friends and told them his move-in was finished, and they all responded that they'd swing by the apartment as soon as possible. All that was left to do was wait.

Makoto gulped as his knees buckled. He sat down in a stool by his countertop— he'd opted to use it as a kitchen table for now and to use the rest of the main living area as a spacious living room. His spare bedroom would eventually function as a home gym. All of this planning had only served to finalize, in Makoto's head, the idea that he was now living alone. And for the first time in his life, aside from the time he'd been forced to spend in solitary confinement.

Strangely, that wasn't what he was nervous about. Not now. No, his current problem was much more petty. He looked at his palm again, where he clutched the three copies he'd made of the key to his apartment. How would the others react? Would they laugh, or would they be happy to receive them?

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. He ran to open it a little too quickly.

"Congratulations!" All three of his visitors called out at once. They tried to, anyway. Sousuke flubbed the timing and then muttered a swear word under his breath, earning an elbow to the ribs, courtesy of Haruka.

"Th-Thanks, everybody, but you didn't have to get me anything!"

Each of Makoto's friends had come bearing some kind of gift. And they were still in their work clothes, indicating that they truly had rushed over. Sousuke snorted.

"Save it, Tachibana. You're taking this goddamn toaster oven." He jostled the large box tucked under his arm. Makoto laughed and shyly stepped aside.

"S-So... Come on in!" he offered as cheerily as he could. His friends obeyed. Rin whistled and tapped the back of the sofa.

"The living room set's not too shabby for a hand-me-down," he observed. "I was afraid that Coach had forced some ratty old thing on you."

"I'm gonna make sure this stool can hold me." Sousuke slid the toaster oven onto the counter and plopped down onto one of the barstools. His face lit up as it held his weight without so much as a creak. Haruka, in the meantime, set his vase down on the countertop by the sink.

"I thought it would feel more homely this way," he explained as he filled the vase with water. "Make sure to trim the stems every other day. And do it diagonally. They'll live longer that way."

"I _love them!_ " Makoto shoved his face into the freshly-arranged bouquet and inhaled their pleasant scent. "What kinds are they?!"

Sousuke gently took the petal of one of the big, bright yellow flowers and pinched it between his calloused fingertips.

"These are daffodils," he answered. "And the white ones are daisies. Suits you."

"They do. Very _sunny_ ," Rin agreed.

Haruka moved to the refrigerator, where he nonchalantly put up a photograph and a magnet to keep it in place. Sousuke, curious, wandered over and took a peek.

"Who _is_ that handsome devil?"

"Shut up, Sousuke."

Makoto gently shoved the two of them aside to have a look. He smiled. Haru had given him the photograph they'd had taken at the carnival of everyone together. Sousuke, in particular, stood out, as he had clearly been trying too hard to look good in the picture. Which was probably what he'd been referring to just now.

Haru and Sousuke continued their usual banter as Makoto fiddled with the keys that he'd shoved into his pocket. It was Rin who noticed first.

"Did you wanna say something, Makoto?"

Haru stopped being sarcastic and looked between the faces of his best friend and his boyfriend. Sousuke raised an expectant eyebrow. Makoto's face flushed as he pulled the objects from their hiding place. He handed the first one to Haru, who was standing closer to him than anyone else.

"I-I, um... had copies made of my key. I got one for each of you."

No one reacted. Not in words, anyway. Haru took the key and slipped it onto his keyring without saying anything about it.

"...Don't tell me you're embarrassed," Sousuke groaned. Makoto laughed sheepishly. Sousuke rolled his eyes, and then he pulled something from his own pocket that he tossed in Makoto's direction. "If you're gonna be weird about it, then just take this."

Makoto barely reacted in time to catch what was thrown. Once he got a proper look at it, he couldn't help but feel very silly.

"...Is this... a copy of your key?"

"Of course it is."

Makoto looked to each of their faces to confirm that it really wasn't any big deal to them. He smiled and shook his head, and then he handed his two remaining keys off to Rin and to Sousuke. He didn't know what he'd gotten himself so worked up about.

Haruka had been absolutely right— Makoto intended to let his friends treat his apartment like their own home, and his friends would do the same for him.

In the end, hardly anything had changed at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse for this lateness. I mean, my God, it's been like six months??? I just wasn't feelin' it for the longest time! But we're here now, and that's the important thing. It's fun to allow myself to be as corny and fluffy as I want to in these early establishment chapters.


End file.
